113.2 degrees Fahrenheit: France sees hottest day in country's history as heat wave sweeps Europe

France’s national weather service has issued its highest-level danger alert as the temperature in Southern France soared to 113.2 degrees on Friday.

Météo-France, the national weather service, raised the hazardous weather warning to “red,” the highest level, for the Marseille and Montpellier areas in southeastern France.

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This has been the first red alert the weather service activated since a four-level weather “vigilance” system had been introduced following an estimated 15,000 deaths related to soaring temperatures in France during a summer heat wave in 2003.

In France, a red extreme weather warning advised extra precautions for children and older people and cautioned that even those in good health are at risk of heat stroke.

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Meteorologists for Météo-France took to twitter warning of the 110.3 degree Fahrenheit temperature at Montpellier airport, saying the heat "surpassed the previous all-time record," with measurements first taken in 1946.



Authorities in Paris and other major cities, including Marseille, have banned older cars, saying high heat exacerbates air pollution.

According to the European Environmental Agency, the volume of warm days Europe has experienced has nearly doubled between 1960 and 2018.

The agency says the continent is expected to have similar, if not worse, heat waves “as often as every two years” in the second half of the 21st century.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.