France heatwave to end with a bang as storms sweep in

The heatwave is set to continue across much of France for one more day - but storms are set to sweep in from the northwest in the afternoon, according to national forecaster Meteo France.

In its late-morning bulletin on Tuesday Meteo France placed 70 departments on orange weather alert for a combination of storms and heatwaves.

Storms will arrive early in the afternoon from the south of Normandy to the south of the Ile-de-France before moving north and east. In the early evening, storms will start to affect southern regions of the Massif Central. All of Auvergne will be affected, as well as Burgundy, Champagne, part of the Centre, and eastern Lorraine. Forecasters warned that they could feature hail and winds of up to 100kph.

The affected departments in the latest bulletin are: Aisne, Allier, Ardennes, Aube, Aveyron, Calvados, Cantal, Cher, Côte-d'Or, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Loire, Haute-Loire, Loiret, Lot, Marne, Haute-Marne, Meuse, Nièvre, Nord, Oise, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Puy-de-Dôme, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe, Paris, Seine-Maritime, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Somme, Tarn, Yonne, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise. Et 56 sont en alerte à la canicule : Ain, Allier, Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Aube, Aveyron, Cantal, Charente, Cher, Corrèze, Côte-d'Or, Creuse, Dordogne, Doubs, Drôme, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Isère, Jura, Loir-et-Cher, Loire, Loiret, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Moselle, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme, Pyrénées-Orientales, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Rhône, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Deux-Sèvres, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Vosges, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, and Val-d'Oise

The Paris basin and the North-East and Centre-East regions are set to bear the brunt of the high temperatures today, with temperatures between 35C and 40C predicted, before storms push cooler air in from the northwest later in the day.

A spike in air pollution levels linked to the high pressure over France means traffic controls, including bans on higher-polluting vehicles and speed limit cuts remain in place in several cities, including Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg and Annecy.