Dozen regions placed on red alert as France is hit by heatwave

People cool off under showers at Paris Plage along the Seine river in Paris (Michel Euler/AP)

A blistering heatwave gripped south-west France on Monday, sending temperatures soaring to 43C in parts of the Charente and Aude.

In Aude, a patchwork of vineyards and Mediterranean scrubland, hundreds of firefighters remained on the hillsides guarding the edges of a massive blaze that scorched 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) last week.