Europe heatwave triggers emergency alerts in France and Germany

French authorities raised heat alerts in 60 departments as an early-summer heatwave pushed France and Germany into emergency mode, with temperatures forecast to reach 39C to 40C from southwestern France through Paris and Burgundy and possibly hit 41C in some places.

Météo-France had already expanded its orange alert to 53 departments on June 18 before widening it further on June 20, and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was due to hold a crisis meeting as officials compared the episode with the major French shocks of 2003 and 2019. Paris kept parks open around the clock, and the city went ahead with its annual Fête de la Musique on June 21 even as outdoor sports events were canceled in the capital and other French cities scaled back or scrapped music events.

Germany faced its own near-nationwide alert. The German Meteorological Service forecast the country's hottest day of the year, with temperatures approaching 38C and humidity raising the risk of severe thunderstorms. Those storms later injured several people and caused flash flooding.

By June 22, at least 18 people had died, including two children left in a hot car, as schools closed or shifted schedules and multiple cities broke temperature records. By June 24, France had recorded its hottest day ever.

Bank of France Governor Emmanuel Moulin said the short-term effect on growth was ambiguous because heat raised energy use but reduced productivity, though the longer-term effect would weigh on economic activity.

An attribution study by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found that a similar early-summer heatwave in June and July 2025 was intensified by human-caused climate change. The study estimated that about 1,500 of 2,300 heat deaths across 12 European cities were directly attributable to climate change, that the total death toll nearly tripled, and that people aged 65 and over accounted for 88 percent of the deaths.