Almost 8,000 excess deaths in France’s scorched summer, statistics show

Sunflowers dried out by the summer heat in Bois-de-Cene, western France, on Sept 3. The summer of 2026 was the hottest in France since 1900, surpassing 2003 and another severe spell of heat in 2022.

PARIS - The hottest summer in France since 1900 marked by a succession of record heatwaves resulted in almost 8,000 excess deaths, health authorities’ statistics published on Sept 16 showed.

The latest figure of 7,919 excess deaths from late May to Aug 20 is not final and could yet rise as the data from the final weeks of the summer comes in, the French public health authority said.

In comparison, the country reported 5,722 excess fatalities linked to high temperatures between June and mid-September last year.

There were 817 excess deaths recorded from July 27 to Aug 20, adding to 5,764 excess deaths from June 17 to July 2, 1,243 from July 3 to 20 and 95 during an early summer heatwave spike from May 24 to 28.

The toll appeared to provide a striking indication of the impact of heatwaves in a country where infrastructure is poorly equipped to deal with extreme heat.

“This summer of 2026 was completely unprecedented, with almost continuous heatwave episodes,” Guillaume Boulanger, head of the living and working environments unit at France’s public health authority, told AFP.

Many in France still remember the 2003 heatwave, which struck at the peak of the summer holidays when hospitals were understaffed and elderly relatives left alone. It resulted in some 15,000 deaths.

But according to France’s weather authority, the summer of 2026 was the hottest since 1900, surpassing 2003 and another severe spell of heat in 2022.

Climate change, caused primarily by the burning of coal, oil, and gas associated with human activities, increases the risk and intensity of heatwaves.

This year in France, old people were particularly badly hit with a large number of excess deaths recorded from Aug 14-16 just after the very hottest days.

The deadliest heatwave was the first major episode from June 17 to July 2, which occurred before the summer holidays began and when education, business and work activities were still in full swing in France, the authority said.

The authority has said it hopes to finish collecting data by the end of October, with a final tally of excess deaths for the summer expected to be announced early 2027. AFP