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France recorded around 1,000 excess deaths during last week’s record-breaking heat wave, health authorities said on Sunday, as extreme temperatures continued to grip much of Europe, triggering wildfires, straining infrastructure and raising fresh concerns over the growing impact of climate change.
According to France’s public health agency, the sharp rise in fatalities occurred over three days when the country experienced its hottest weather on record.
More than 1,200 people died on Wednesday, with daily deaths climbing to over 1,400 on both Thursday and Friday. Before the heat wave, France had been recording around 900 to 1,000 deaths a day during April and May.
The agency estimated that at least 1,000 additional deaths occurred during the three-day period alone, warning that the figure could rise further as more data, including deaths at home, becomes available.
It said 85 percent of those who died were aged 65 or older, with the highest mortality recorded in areas placed under the country’s highest-level red heat alert, which covered nearly three-quarters of France at the peak of the scorching temperatures.
The intense heat also swept across other parts of Europe, shattering temperature records and fuelling wildfires.
In Germany, the national weather service reported a new nighttime temperature record of 29.4 degrees Celsius in Kubschütz, eastern Saxony, after a daytime high of 41.5 degrees Celsius was recorded in Möckern-Drewitz, marking the country’s highest temperature on record.
The soaring temperatures sparked forest fires in eastern and southwestern Germany, including in former military training areas contaminated with unexploded World War II ammunition, complicating firefighting efforts and forcing temporary suspensions after explosions were reported.
Emergency services also faced mounting pressure. Berlin recorded an additional 500 ambulance dispatches on Saturday, most linked to heat-related illnesses.
In an unusual response to the sweltering conditions, Berlin police deployed water cannons, typically used for crowd control, near the Brandenburg Gate to spray cooling water over residents and tourists gathered in the city centre.
The heat wave also disrupted transport networks. Parts of Germany’s motorway system suffered damage as concrete road surfaces buckled under the extreme temperatures, while rail operator Deutsche Bahn advised passengers to avoid unnecessary travel.
In Leipzig, tram services were suspended until Monday after heat damaged tracks and switches.
Elsewhere in Europe, Greece remained on high alert for wildfires, with civil protection authorities warning of a “very high” fire risk across five regions. Denmark, after experiencing record temperatures on Saturday, was hit by severe thunderstorms that produced more than 1,150 lightning strikes overnight.
Meanwhile, a rapid study by the World Weather Attribution network concluded that the unprecedented heat and humidity sweeping Europe would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate change. The researchers said such extreme weather is now around 200 times more likely than it was just two decades ago, underscoring the growing risks posed by global warming.
