Nearly 70 percent of France is subject to water-use restrictions as drought conditions worsen amid successive heatwaves, the government said Monday. "As France is experiencing a particularly severe drought, the effects of climate change continue to increase pressure on water resources," the ministry for ecological transition said, adding that "nearly 70 percent of French territory is subject to restrictions on water use". In areas subject to the highest alert, water is reserved for priority uses such as healthcare, civil protection, drinking water and sanitation. Ecology Minister Monique Barbut said on July 27 that drinking water supplies were "under strain in several areas", noting that tap water cuts were already affecting "more than 30,000 people", with drinking water supplied to residents by tanker trucks or bottled water. The minister will convene a crisis meeting on the drought on Wednesday, which comes as France and swaths of Europe face another heatwave.