France extends heatwave alert to 53 departments starting Friday

Meteo-France has extended its orange heatwave alert to 53 French departments, covering a wider area from southwest to northeast, starting Friday at noon.

French weather service Meteo-France said on ​Thursday it had extended its ​orange heatwave alert to cover ‌53 departments, ​or administrative districts, across France starting on Friday at noon.

The alert will cover 27 departments in ‌addition to the 26 already affected on Thursday afternoon, along an axis stretching from the southwest to the northeast, Meteo-France said in its latest update.