A record-shattering heatwave in France claimed a heavy human toll last month, with 5,764 more deaths than normally expected, health authorities said, calling the excess mortality among people aged 15 and over “unprecedented”.
Officials said it marked the country’s highest level of excess deaths during a heatwave since the catastrophic spell of extreme heat in 2003, when around 15,000 people died.
France has endured three heatwaves since May, part of a growing pattern of extreme weather that scientists have linked to human-caused climate change.
The relentless heat disrupted daily life across a country where many homes, schools and hospitals were not built to withstand such temperatures and lack air conditioning.
The 5,764 additional deaths recorded between 17 June and 2 July were attributed to “all causes”, Sante Public France said, stressing that none had yet been definitively tied to the heat. Final figures are expected in the autumn.
By comparison, France registered 5,722 excess deaths associated with high temperatures between June and mid-September last year.
People aged 75 and older accounted for roughly two-thirds of last month’s excess fatalities, while those aged 45 to 64 made up less than a fifth.
Half of the deaths occurred during a devastating three-day period from 25 – 27 June.
Paris deaths spike
France experienced its hottest June since national records began in 1947, as the heatwave pushed temperatures beyond 40C in numerous areas.
Average temperatures on 24 June and 25 June were the highest ever measured in France across any month.
Deaths across the Paris region climbed by 80%, according to Sante Public France, which said last week that fatalities had doubled during 22-28 June.
In that final week of June, four young children died in separate incidents across France after becoming trapped inside dangerously hot cars.
Those tragedies, however, did not appear to alter the official mortality rate for their age group.
An unusually early heatwave in May had already contributed to at least 300 more deaths than would typically be expected.
Scientists said human-driven climate change was “unequivocally” responsible for the severity of the heatwave that swept through Europe in late June.
Of the 53 nationwide heatwaves documented between 1947 and late June, half have struck since 2010, according to France’s national weather service, Meteo-France.
