Parts of France record highest-ever temperatures of plus-40C as wildfires ravage parts of continent
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Several towns and cities in France have recorded their highest-ever temperatures as nearly 2,000 firefighters continued to battle huge blazes in the south-west and a searing heatwave gripping much of western Europe moved north and east.
Nantes, near the Atlantic coast, recorded 42C on Monday, beating a previous high of 40.3C set in 1949, while Brest, in Brittany, hit 39.9C, more than four degrees higher than its 2002 record of 35.1C.