The suffocating heat that hits western Europe, linked to climate change, intensified this Monday, especially in France, where two children were found dead inside a car.

This is the second heat wave for millions of Europeans in less than a month. According to scientific consensus, climate change caused by human activity makes extreme weather events more intense.

The new episode, longer than the one in May and which could last until the weekend, is reminiscent of the heat wave of August 2003, which marked Europe with more than 70,000 deaths during its two-week duration.

France was the epicenter this Monday, with temperatures expected between 36 and 43ºC. The meteorological service Météo France decreed a red alert, the maximum possible, in half of the country, where more than 35 million inhabitants live.

The average temperature in the country this Monday broke a record for the month of June, reaching 29.2 °C, the meteorological services announced.

Two brothers, aged 2 and 4, were found dead inside their family's car in Carpentras, in the southeast of France, and the main hypothesis of the death is "the heat wave," said prosecutor Hélène Mourges.

On Sunday, three elderly people died in their homes in southwestern France due to high temperatures, according to authorities. And thirteen others drowned over the weekend in different parts of the country.

More than 1,300 of the country's 60,000 schools and secondary schools remained closed on Monday, while another 4,000 adjusted their hours, according to the Ministry of Education.