Paris, France (AFP)-Paris was put on red alert for extreme heat and Spain and Portugal reported record temperatures on Monday as a heatwave across southern Europe triggered health warnings and fuelled wildfires.

The summer’s first major heatwave has scorched countries along the northern coast of the Mediterranean and the sea itself hit a record temperature for the month of June, meteorologists said.

France’s national weather agency placed Paris and 15 other departments on its highest weather alert for Tuesday, with temperatures of up to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) predicted.

Police ordered all but the least polluting vehicles off the road between 5:30 am (0330 GMT) and midnight in the Ile-de-France region that includes the capital because of harmful ozone pollution.

Speed restrictions were also imposed.

Ambulances stood ready near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.

In Turkey, rescuers evacuated more than 50,000 people threatened by a string of wildfires. Most were from the western province of Izmir, where winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour fanned the blazes.

Firefighters also battled blazes that broke out Sunday in Italy, fed by the heat and whipped up by strong winds, while about hectares (988 acres) of vegetation were destroyed by fire off a motorway in southern France.

The blaze was blamed on a poorly extinguished barbecue.

Cities were meanwhile offering different ways to stay cool, from free swimming pools in Marseille and parks open until 11:00 pm in Bordeaux, to free guided tours for the elderly in Venice’s air-conditioned museums.