In France, 5.7 thousand more deaths than usual were recorded in June during a heatwave

They called this mortality jump among those aged 15 and over “unprecedented”.

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This is the highest mortality rate during a heatwave in the country since the devastating heat episode in 2003, which claimed about 15,000 lives, officials added.

Since May, France has been hit by three heatwaves. This is part of increasingly frequent extreme weather events that scientists link to human-induced climate change.

Rising temperatures have caused chaos in a country where many homes, schools, and hospitals are not adapted to heat and lack air conditioning systems.

The heat also dried up riverbeds and caused forest fires, including one that last week devastated a tenth of the vast UNESCO-protected Fontainebleau forest near Paris.

Additional deaths from June 17 to July 2 this year were due to “all causes” – none of which have yet been clearly linked to heat, said Sante Public France. Final data will be published in the autumn.

For comparison, last year from June to mid-September, the country recorded 5,722 additional deaths related to high temperatures.

Of the additional deaths recorded last month, about two-thirds were individuals aged 75 and over, and less than a fifth were people aged 45-64.

Half of the deaths occurred in just three days, from June 25 to 27.

Mortality surge in Paris

Last month, France recorded its hottest June since observations began in 1947, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in many places during the heatwave.

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The average temperature on June 24 and 25, 2026, was the highest ever recorded in France, considering all months of the year.

According to Sante Public France, the number of deaths in the Paris region increased by 80%, although last week the institution announced that this number had doubled between June 22 and 28.

In that last week of June, four young children died in France, trapped in hot cars.

However, this did not affect the official mortality rates in this age group.

At least 300 more people than usual died during the unusually early first heatwave in May.

Scientists say that human-induced climate change is “undoubtedly” responsible for the intensity of the heatwave that hit Europe in late June.

According to the national meteorological service Meteo-France, out of 53 heatwaves recorded across the country from 1947 until the end of June, half occurred after 2010.

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