Saturday will be the hottest day in France, with absolute temperature records reaching 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit), the meteorological service warned.

“Absolute records can then be broken. This is a truly exceptional situation,” Meteo France said in a statement.

A total of 11 departments in the southwest have been placed on red alert, and 58 others put on orange alert, with citizens advised to guard with utmost vigilance to deal with the heat.

For the third day in a row, the early and intense heat wave continues to set the temperatures soaring across the country.

The highest temperature on Friday was 42.3 C (108.14 F) in Durban-Corbieres, in the Aude department in Occitane.

Peak temperatures are forecast to be close to 42-43°C (107.6-109.4°F) in southern Aquitaine and between 38 C and 41 C (100.4 F and 105.8 F) in New Aquitaine, Centre-Val-de-Loire, western Burgundy, and Ile-de-France (Paris region).

In the Grand-Est, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, the Rhone valley, the interior of Occitanie, and to the west from southern Brittany to the east of Hauts de France, the maximum temperatures generally range between 35 C and 39 C (95 F and 102.2 F).

Some respite can be attained close to the Mediterranean coast in the south where temperatures will vary between 28 C and 33 C (82.4 F and 91.4 F), the meteorological service said.

A break in the heat wave is expected in the evening, with possible outbreaks of thunderstorms with gusts of wind on the Atlantic coast that will move upward Normandy from the Southwest.

The heat wave will begin to decrease from Sunday with rain and storms./aa