France recorded about 2,025 excess deaths between 22 and 28 June, a roughly 30 percent increase over normal levels, as an intense heatwave broke temperature records across Europe, according to figures from the country's public health agency reported by multiple outlets. French health minister Stephanie Rist said there had been a 'clear increase' in deaths among people over 45, and officials cautioned that the toll was likely an underestimate that would rise as more data on deaths in homes and care facilities came in.
The surge was concentrated in the worst-hit regions. Deaths rose by about 62 percent in the Paris area, according to the reported health-agency data, after France recorded what Meteo-France called its hottest countrywide day on record on 24 June, with temperatures nearing 41C (about 106F) in Paris and roughly half the country placed under a red heat alert.
The deaths were part of a wider European toll. The World Health Organization said more than 1,300 excess deaths linked to high temperatures had been recorded across the continent since 21 June, France 24 reported. Belgium alone recorded 1,222 excess deaths during the heatwave, nearly 40 percent above normal, with almost half among people aged 85 and older, according to the reported figures.
A record-breaking heat event
Temperature records fell in at least a dozen countries, including Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom, according to Al Jazeera. Météo-France said 23 June was the country's hottest day on average since measurements began in 1947, with a reading of 44.3C (111.7F) recorded in Pissos in the southwest.
An analysis cited by World Weather Attribution examined 854 European cities and found that nearly half broke or were on track to break their all-time heat-stress records during the month, with every city examined in Czechia, Lithuania and Luxembourg reaching unprecedented levels.
The climate connection
Scientists with the World Weather Attribution group concluded that the heatwave would have been 'virtually impossible' without human-driven climate change, describing it as Europe's 'most severe ever recorded,' CNN reported. The group estimated that a comparable heatwave in the climate of 1976 — 50 years ago — would have been roughly 3.5C cooler, and that human-caused warming had made the event's high night-time temperatures about 100 times more likely than two decades ago.
Public-health researchers have long noted that heat deaths are often undercounted because heat frequently acts as an aggravating factor in cardiovascular and respiratory illness rather than appearing as a sole cause. The French agency's warning that its tally would rise is consistent with that pattern, though the full mortality figures will not be known until consolidated data is published in the coming weeks.
What to watch
Forecasters warned that parts of Europe, including the United Kingdom and the Iberian Peninsula, faced renewed extreme heat. Spain's Aemet weather service flagged the possibility of another heatwave, and Portugal's government declared a state of alert with temperatures forecast to top 40C in some areas, according to the reported coverage. Consolidated death tolls, the reach of the next hot spell, and the strain on power grids and health systems will be the key indicators of how severe this European summer becomes.