France hits all-time record temperature of nearly 115 degrees

France recorded its highest-ever temperature on Friday, reaching nearly 115 degrees.

{mosads}The town of Gallargues-le-Montueux in southern France saw a peak of 114.6 degrees Friday afternoon, beating the previous record of 111.4 degrees recorded during the deadly 2003 heat wave in the southern town of Conqueyrac, The Washington Post reports.

A forecaster for the country’s meteorological agency tweeted that in addition to Gallargues-le-Montueux, 12 other French cities beat the 2003 record on Friday.

#Canicule Des températures très élevées relevées cet après-midi sur une large partie du pays. Le record absolu (tous mois confondus) de température en métropole a été battu : 45,9°C relevés à 16h21 à Gallargues-le-Montueux pic.twitter.com/kaTp1gbOl4

— Météo-France (@meteofrance) June 28, 2019

The forecaster also tweeted that nearly 20 cities observed their warmest-ever low temperatures on Thursday morning.

Des records absolus de température minimale élevée ont été battus ce matin #canicule2019 #VigilanceOrange. Restez informés sur https://t.co/KA0Ij27Eea pic.twitter.com/bEcB4Tzubv

— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) June 27, 2019

Europe braced for the historic heat wave earlier in the week, with peak temperatures expected to hit midweek in the region spanning from Spain to Poland.

Heat waves are said to be especially dangerous and deadly early on in the summer season, because people haven’t had time to adapt to the higher temperatures and lower air quality.

The continent saw record-breaking temperatures in 2018, with Sweden, Finland and Norway reaching unprecedented levels.