Deaths in France surged 30% during hottest week of record June heatwave

By Jon Henley

The number of deaths recorded in France surged by nearly 30% during the hottest week

of the record-breaking heatwave that hit much of Europe last month, the public health authority

has said, adding that it expected the toll to rise further.

Public Health France said on Friday there had been “an increase of 29.1%, corresponding

to 2,025 additional deaths compared with the previous week”. It said the figure was probably

an underestimate and “mortality will rise further”.

The new and still incomplete figures doubled the preliminary estimate of at least 1,0

additional deaths given by the authority last Sunday. That earlier estimate covered just three

of the hottest days of extreme heat.

Belgium’s health ministry said excess mortality totalled about 1,200 between 18 and

June, with 530 of the deaths among people 85 or older. The Dutch government said the

heatwave had led to about 480 excess deaths, mainly of elderly people.

The updated French tally covers the week of 22 to 28 June, during which France

registered its hottest-ever days, with previous day- and night-time highs shattered in cities and

towns across the country. Hundreds of records also fell in other parts of Europe.

Public Health France said it had counted 8,973 deaths so far for that week but cautioned

that the number was still only partial. It said the preliminary total was 29% more than the

6,948 deaths registered for the previous week of 15-21 June.

It said the increase was concentrated almost entirely among people aged 45 and over,

with the over-65s worst-affected.

Deaths in the home recorded the biggest increase, nearly doubling within a single week,

and Paris was the worst-affected region; the number of deaths recorded in the capital rose by

62% week on week, Public Health France said in its weekly report.

Nicolas Revel, the director general of the Paris public hospital system, has said he expected

the death toll from the June heatwave to be lower than that of 2003, but “probably” higher than

an extreme heat episode last year that claimed 5,700 lives.

(Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/03/deaths-france-surged-hottest-week-record-heatwave-june – text specially adapted for this test).