France records around 1,000 excess deaths in heat wave

PARIS

French health officials said on Sunday there had been around 1,000 more deaths than expected during a record-breaking heat wave that has baked much of western Europe for days.

“Since June 24, approximately 1,000 additional deaths [unconsolidated figures] have been observed compared to the deaths recorded in previous months,” Public Health France said in a statement.

The agency said areas under red alert for heat had been particularly badly affected, and 85 percent of the deaths had been those aged 65 and over.

The sharpest increases, the agency said, involved people dying at home, especially in the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris and its suburbs.

“This observation serves as a reminder of the need for measures of solidarity toward people who are isolated or experiencing profound loneliness, including in highly urbanized areas,” the statement said.

The agency stressed that the figures were preliminary and were likely to be an underestimate.

The heat eased across France yesterday after days of punishing temperatures that saw the mercury rising above 40 degrees Celsius in many areas.

The scale of the heat wave in Europe is unprecedented, with an estimated 193 million people across the continent facing temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius.

Germany provisionally recorded its highest temperature in history, a blistering 41.3 degrees Celsius in the southwestern city of Saarbrücken, while traditionally temperate nations like the United Kingdom and Switzerland clocked their highest-ever temperatures for the month of June.

This atmospheric pressure has pushed Europe’s public health systems to a state of triage. In Paris, the hospital authority reported a staggering 80 percent surge in emergency calls compared to the same period last year.