Overview
- Public Health France reported 5,764 excess deaths in regions affected by the event between June 17 and July 2, based on 21,674 observed deaths versus 15,910 expected deaths.
- The agency said this is the highest excess‑mortality figure for a French heatwave since 2003, with the Paris region accounting for 1,999 of the excess deaths.
- Around two‑thirds of the excess fatalities were people aged 75 or older and just over half of the deaths occurred during the three‑day peak from June 25 to June 27.
- Copernicus logged Western Europe’s warmest June on record and climate researchers say long‑term human‑caused warming, aided by factors such as El Niño and gaps in cooling and care, made the late‑June spike much more likely and intense.
- Authorities describe the tally as provisional and based on all‑cause excess mortality, they say final, cause‑specific figures will be published in the autumn and that the heatwave also strained hospitals, care homes, mortuaries, transport and firefighting resources.