France, June 26 -- Emergency services at Paris's Hopital europeen Georges Pompidou - one of the capital's largest hospitals - were under "extremely serious" pressure after a week of exceptionally hot weather, its head of emergency medicine Philippe Juvin said on Friday.

"The corridors are full," Juvin said, describing mostly elderly patients but also people in their 50s and 60s suffering from severe heat-related illness. He said homeless people had also been admitted with body temperatures of 42C.

The hospital had 53 patients admitted for 20 beds normally available, with extra beds installed in disused rooms and patients waiting on trolleys in corridors. Twenty patients had still not been seen by 7am on Friday, he said.

France recorded...