A British woman has died at a French campsite, and a three-year-old was found dead in a hot car in Paris as France recorded its hottest day in history.

Temperatures peaked at 44.3C in the southwestern town of Pissos on Tuesday – making it the hottest day ever recorded.

The elderly woman was staying at the Baie D-Aunis campsite with her husband in the coastal town of Tranche-sur-Mer in Western France when she fell ill. 

Meanwhile, a three-year-old boy was found dead in a car in a Paris suburb, as mercury rose to 41C in the French capital. 

The three-year-old’s parents found the boy in ‘the car outside their home’ on Wednesday, a police source said. 

His parents had sent the child to bed after he had expressed that he was feeling tired. 

Around 45 minutes later, they realised their son was not in his room, and they discovered him unresponsive in a car, according to local reports.

The boy is believed to have locked himself in the vehicle, but the circumstances around how he ended up in the car in the first place are unclear.

A person cools off at Trocadero fountain near the Eiffel Tower during a heat wave in Paris, Wednesday

 Europe continues to grapple with a sweltering heatwave. Pictured: Lifeguards keep watch from their station over a packed lake beach during a heatwave at the Bordeaux Lac beach, in Bordeaux, south-western France

A British woman died at a French campsite as the country is gripped by soaring temperatures. Pictured: Baie D-aunis campsite, where the tragedy occurred

The incident brings the death toll of children dying in extreme weather conditions in France to three, after two siblings died after being left in a hot car earlier this week. 

The brothers, aged just four and two, were found unresponsive by their mother, 33, on Monday afternoon in the town of Carpentras, southern France, in a car parked outside their grandmother’s house. 

They suffered cardiac arrest as temperatures reached a sweltering 40C, and while services were called to the scene, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. 

Weather agencies have warned that extreme heat could endanger lives as much of western Europe bakes under a ‘heat dome’. 

France on Wednesday recorded the hottest day since measurements began in 1947, the national average temperature reaching 30C.

Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire earlier on Thursday reported that deaths were on the rise in the capital.

The Ministry of Health later confirmed that there had been 25 heat-related cardiac arrests in the last 24 hours in Paris. 

The extreme heat has also led three nuclear reactors to close in France. 

The Golfech reactor has been closed since Monday, while the Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear power plant in Aube shut this morning due to ‘external causes related to the environment.’ 

A third was closed in the late morning in Bugey. 

ourists and Parisians Cool Off at Eiffel Tower 42C expected towards temperature records in Paris, France on June 24, 2026

Two men work on a canal quay as their apartment overheats during a heatwave on June 24, 2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands

At least 101 million people are expected to experience hot temperatures on Thursday, including 50 million in France. 

The country has been the most impacted, where around 63 million people have experienced temperatures of more than 30C. 

The heatwave has also been linked with 212 deaths in Spain between Sunday and Wednesday, estimates from a public institute show.

The MoMO monitoring system compiles daily death statistics in Spain and calculates the difference in mortality by comparing them with the levels forecast based on historical records. 

Meanwhile, the UK recorded its hottest June day on Wednesday, with 36.1 reported at Gosport in southern England. 

The national weather forecaster issued a red alert for heat in much of central and southern England, as well as Wales.

Authorities warned people to take extra care when swimming in unsupervised areas, such as rivers or lakes, following the deaths of around 40 people in France over the past week.

French footballer Kenzo Kies has died from drowning in the Rhone River after he had gone for a swim to cool down from the blistering heat. 

Kies, 21, who played for Guingamp in Ligue 2, was in a critical condition when he was pulled from the water on Monday, and later died in hospital.

Kies and three friends entered the river near Lyon. Three people were pulled to safety by emergency services, but Kies was the last to be found.

More than 1,000 schools in England have closed due to the heat, and many train services were cancelled, with passengers being urged to avoid nonessential travel in areas covered by the warning. 

The windows of a Haussmann-style residential building are seen covered with emergency blankets to shield them from the sun as temperatures rise in Paris, during a heatwave affecting a majority of the country, France, June 25, 2026

German tourists jump in a canal during a heatwave in Amsterdam, Netherlands

People touch canal water to feel its temperature during a heatwave in Amsterdam, Netherlands

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Two children died of heart attacks in hot car after mother ‘forgot’ them in 40C French heatwave

In France, Italy and Spain, more than 100 million people were warned to be extra vigilant about the dangers of the heat wave.

With the mercury rising, many of France’s major attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum in Paris, have restricted visiting hours. 

Schools and transportation schedules were also upended.

In Italy, 16 cities, including Rome, Milan, Florence and Turin, were under heat alerts.

The ‘bollino rosso’ signals that the risks are not restricted to the elderly. 

This is a breaking news story, more to follow.