Ananova:

A new waxwork of Barack Obama has been unveiled in Paris - where it had to be protected from the hot sun by umbrellas.

The same heatwave that has hit Britain has sent temperatures soaring in France and threatened to melt the model's face, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Helpers grabbed umbrellas to shield the waxwork from the hot sun as it was unveiled near the Eiffel Tower before taking up its place in the Musée Grevin wax museum.

It was created by sculptor Eric Saint Chaffray who had to overcome the problem that he had never seen the US president in person.

"The main difficulty is making it without meeting him, from press photos," he admitted.

But passers-by were so taken by the resemblance that many stopped to have their photograph taken by the model.

"It looks really cool," said Emily Artes, a US tourist. "Everyone was joking that he was actually here and that we were gonna take pictures with him."

Mr Saint Chaffray has been creating wax statues for the museum for the past 20 years, and has worked on American presidents in the past.

"We're presenting Barack Obama at the Musée Grevin as part of a gathering of heads of state, which is why he has kind of an official attitude, a little bit stiff," he said.