(AP Photo/Michael Probst)PARIS -- The U.K. and France are bracing for the fifth heat wave of the season, adding to an intense stretch of hot weather that has repeatedly sent temperatures soaring across Europe since May. National weather agency Météo-France is warning about temperatures approaching 40 C (104 F) from Tuesday onward in southeastern France. In Western Europe, meanwhile, the average temperature record for the June-July period hit 21.62 C (70.92 F), Copernicus said, toppling the 2022 record. “This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.” In France alone, heat wave alerts were issued for the first time on record in May, when more than half the country recorded new monthly temperature highs.