France has recorded an estimated 1,000 excess deaths during the peak of a record-breaking heat wave that scorched much of Europe last week, as health officials warn the final toll is expected to rise.
France’s public health agency said the country experienced a sharp increase in deaths between Wednesday and Friday, when temperatures climbed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across much of the country, and nighttime temperatures remained unusually high.
The surge came as the World Health Organization warned that Europe is warming faster than any other continent and urged governments to strengthen protections against extreme heat.
Deaths Spike During Heat Wave
According to Public Health France, the country recorded more than 1,200 deaths on Wednesday, followed by more than 1,400 deaths on both Thursday and Friday.
Before the heat wave, France had averaged roughly 900 to 1,000 deaths per day during April and May.
Based on preliminary data, officials estimate that at least 1,000 additional people died during the three-day period. The agency cautioned that figure is likely to increase as more death certificates are processed, particularly for people who died at home or in elder care facilities, where reporting can take longer.
Approximately 85% of the deaths involved people aged 65 or older. The sharpest increase occurred in regions placed under the country’s highest-level red heat warnings, which covered roughly three-quarters of France during the peak of the heat wave.
Officials also reported a roughly 40% increase in deaths occurring at private residences, particularly in the Paris region.
Funeral Homes Overwhelmed
The spike in fatalities has strained funeral services across the French capital.
Zouhaeir Hertelli, who operates a mortuary near Paris’ Orly Airport, said his facility’s 32 refrigerated spaces quickly filled as calls poured in from funeral directors searching for available storage.
“We’re facing a really catastrophic situation,” Hertelli said, the Associated Press reported. “I’m getting hundreds of calls.”
According to Hertelli, some funeral homes have been forced to transport bodies to facilities as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) outside Paris because local morgues have reached capacity.
Paris officials have responded by installing two temporary refrigerated storage units capable of holding 20 bodies each, while hospitals added another 50 spaces.
Hertelli said he has requested permission to install refrigerated containers outside his mortuary but is still awaiting approval.
“Families are suffering,” he said. “We have no solution to offer them.”
WHO Warns Europe Is Warming Twice as Fast
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Europe is now the fastest-warming continent on Earth.
“Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average,” Tedros wrote Sunday on social media. “Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling.”
Tedros described heat stress as a “silent killer,” warning that many European homes, schools, and workplaces were not designed to withstand prolonged periods of extreme heat.
He called on governments to strengthen heat action plans by improving preparedness, prevention efforts, and healthcare responses.
Records Fall Across Europe
The heat wave continued moving east over the weekend, setting new temperature records in multiple countries.
Germany recorded a new national high of 41.7 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) in Neißemünde near the Polish border. Poland also established a new all-time record of 40.5 degrees Celsius (104.9 degrees Fahrenheit), while the Czech Republic reached 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing the previous record set just one day earlier.
Scientists with the World Weather Attribution initiative said the exceptional heat would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. Their rapid analysis concluded that similar conditions are now about 200 times more likely than they were just two decades ago.
Wildfires, Storms, and Infrastructure Damage
Extreme temperatures fueled multiple wildfires across Germany, including fires in forests still contaminated with unexploded World War II ammunition, forcing firefighters to temporarily halt operations after munitions detonated.
Near the village of Traisen in southwestern Germany, approximately 650 residents were evacuated as a wildfire spread through another area containing unexploded ordnance.
The heat also strained transportation systems across Europe.
In Germany, sections of highways buckled under intense heat, while the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn advised travelers to avoid unnecessary trips.
More than 600 passengers were evacuated from an overheated train after a fallen tree knocked out electrical power, disabling the train’s air conditioning.
In Leipzig, tram service was suspended after heat damaged tracks and switches.
Meanwhile, severe thunderstorms followed the heat across parts of northern Europe. Denmark recorded more than 1,100 lightning strikes in a single day, while several people were injured after lightning struck an amusement park in southern Sweden.
In Berlin, police deployed water cannons—normally used for crowd control — to spray cooling water on residents and tourists gathered near the Brandenburg Gate as temperatures remained dangerously high.
Heat Deaths Remain a Growing Threat
The current heat wave has renewed concerns about Europe’s vulnerability to rising temperatures.
France’s devastating 2003 heat wave was blamed for approximately 15,000 deaths in the country and prompted major reforms aimed at protecting elderly residents. More than 5,700 heat-related deaths were also recorded in France during last summer’s exceptionally hot weather.
Despite those efforts, health experts say Europe’s aging population, limited air conditioning, older building designs, and increasingly frequent heat waves continue to leave millions at risk.
Officials expect additional deaths linked to the latest heat wave to be confirmed in the coming weeks as authorities continue reviewing mortality data across the continent.
