Agnès Buzyn told France’s Inter radio: “Emergency services are not overwhelmed as a result of the intense heat.”
The record heat has led to water shortages in dozens of regions, with the French energy company EDF saying it would temporarily shut down two reactors in a bid to save water.
French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn today denied the country’s emergency services are close to breaking point, as the country braces for its second heatwave in less than a month.
“Emergency services are not overwhelmed as a result of the intense heat,” Mrs Buzyn told France inter radio.
Mrs Buzyn also dismissed calls for hospital workers to be handed a “heatwave bonus,” insisting the situation was under control.
Her comments came after trade unions said health workers deserved a bonus in light of the “important increase in their workload” during the hot spell.
“However, no one is risk-free in the face of such temperatures,” Mrs Buzyn warned during a press conference later on Wednesday.
The new heatwave is already smashing longstanding records, with the French weather service Météo-France urging citizens to exercise “particular vigilance”.
The mercury in the southwestern city of Bordeaux flirted with 41.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, its highest ever temperature since records began, beating a previous high of 40.7C recorded in August 2003, according to Météo-France.
The French weather service has also placed 20 departments on a “red alert”. More than 60 remain on an “orange alert”.
The worst is expected for Thursday, when temperatures between 37-42C are expected nationwide.
Thursday could also mark the all-time record temperature for the capital city Paris, whose current temperature record, set in 1947, stands at 40.4C.
Paris authorities on Monday activated a heatwave alert plan for the capital. The “level three” alert includes measures to ensure that elderly and vulnerable people are checked up on regularly, and that rooms are set aside for shelter.
In late June, France registered a record temperature of around 46C in the south.
Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said on Monday that France would ask the European Commission to bring forward a payment of 1 billion euros (£890 million) of subsidies to help farmers cope with the devastating heatwave.
The scorching heat has also caused water shortages in dozens of regions, forcing energy giant EDF to temporarily shut down the two reactors at its Golftech nuclear power plant in the southern Tarn-et-Garonne department in a bid to limit the heating of water used to keep reactors cool.
The centrist government has also banned animal transportation for “economic reasons” between 1pm and 6pm in the hottest regions.
Météo-France, however, said that the country’s eastern regions would experience a “spectacular” temperature drop on Friday, and that the nationwide heatwave should ebb by Saturday.
France remains deeply scarred by the August 2003 heatwave, which contributed to almost 15,000 deaths.
Forecasters predict a record-breaking run across Europe this week, including Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
Climate experts have long warned that a warming of the earth’s surface caused mainly by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels will make weather events more extreme, and make those extremes – such as storms, drought and flooding – more common.