France, June 22 -- A woman and two men, aged 80 to 95 years old died Sunday in their homes in the Bordeaux suburbs, probably because of the extreme heat, the Gironde department's prefect, Sophie Brocas, told France 3 local television.

The department was one of the 49 departments in which the Meteo France weather service has declared a maximum "red alert" for extreme heat, with temperatures expected to reach 43C between Monday and Wednesday.

The heatwave is getting close to that of August 2003, when nearly 15,000 people - many of them elderly - died.

The extreme heat has also brought on an increase in drownings, with the Civil Protection service reporting 13 deaths at the weekend, including ten on Sunday alone.

Twenty years after deadl...