France recorded around 1,000 additional deaths during three days at the height of its record heat wave, and Public Health France said 85% involved people aged 65 and above. The agency tied the rise to the hottest period of the event, with the sharpest increase in areas under red warnings of extreme heat.
Public Health France said the country had more than 1,200 deaths on Wednesday, then more than 1,400 on Thursday and Friday as temperatures peaked. By Sunday, the agency said that sequence added up to at least 1,000 additional deaths, and it said the estimate is likely to rise as more data arrives, including deaths at home.
Public Health France
Before the heat wave, France’s rate of deaths in April and May was about 900 to 1,000 per day. During the hotter stretch, the daily total moved above that range, giving the agency a way to measure the excess linked to the extreme temperatures rather than simply count all deaths in the country.
The heaviest impact came where red warnings covered about three-quarters of France at the peak. That left a broad share of the country exposed during the same three-day period in which the mortality estimate was built.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average. He also said, “Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling.”
He added, “Heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ — and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures,” as he urged European countries to implement action plans. A World Weather Attribution study said the record-breaking heat and humidity in Europe this past week would not have been possible without climate change.
Germany and the Czech Republic
The heat spread beyond France. Germany set a new record for the third day in a row with 41.7 degrees Celsius in Neißemünde near the border with Poland, and the Czech Republic recorded its hottest day ever at 41.1 degrees Celsius.
France’s estimate remains a floor, not a ceiling. Public Health France said the count should rise as it adds deaths that have not yet been fully recorded, which means the final toll tied to the heat wave could exceed the first three-day figure by a wide margin.
