France heatwave leaves about 1,000 excess deaths, officials say

France’s health agency said about 1,000 additional deaths were recorded since June 24 as a record-breaking heatwave pushed mortality higher in hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. Public Health France said 85% of the dead were 65 or older, and warned that the figure was still preliminary and likely too low because its surveillance system captures only about 60% of national mortality.

The sharpest increases were in places under red heat alert, especially Île-de-France, where at-home deaths rose about 40%. Météo-France said June 23 was the hottest day on record nationwide, breaking the previous high set in 2003, and temperatures above 40C persisted in many regions. The pattern points to a deadly gap between warning systems and the realities of people living alone, older residents, and patients whose conditions worsen fast in extreme heat.

Météo-France had placed 54 departments, about half the country, under red alert earlier in the week. Schools, trains and sporting events were disrupted, and hospitals came under strain in the Paris region as authorities tried to keep emergency services from being overwhelmed. The pressure on care infrastructure was visible beyond hospitals too, with some events canceled or postponed to avoid adding demand during the hottest stretch.

Public Health France recorded more than 1,200 all-cause deaths on June 24, then more than 1,400 on June 25 and June 26, compared with roughly 900 to 1,000 deaths a day in April and May. The agency’s estimate is already enough to show how quickly heat can turn into a mass-casualty event, especially for older adults and people in homes without adequate cooling. France’s last major benchmark remains the 2003 heatwave, which killed an estimated 15,000 people.

World Weather Attribution said the European heatwave would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. That finding places the French death toll in a wider European context, where hotter extremes are arriving faster than housing stock, warning systems and care infrastructure are adapting.