France puts partial ban on public alcohol consumption during extreme heat

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France has restricted public alcohol consumption and closed hundreds of schools as it struggles with conditions that have put more than a third of the country under a red heat alert. Temperatures could exceed 42C in some areas of L'Hexagone this week. The heatwave has already spread to the UK, with 38C forecast in London on Tuesday. This would be significantly higher than the current June record of 35.6C, set in Southampton in 1976. The high temperatures are down to high pressure systems known as heat domes. These have been made worse by climate change due to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. El Niño could exacerbate such phenomena in the coming months.