During the first heatwave episode of 2026 which occurred in May, unprecedented for this month, “at least 300 deaths” more than normal were recorded in five days in France, Public Health France announced on Tuesday June 30, specifying that the number of deaths attributable to the heat will be known later.
During the heat waves of unprecedented precocity and intensity for the month of May which affected 17 departments, including 6 classified as “heatwave”, from May 24 to 28, “we had 300 excess deaths, which corresponds to an increase of almost 14%”, indicated the general director of Public Health France, Caroline Semaille. These deaths are “all causes combined”, “it is not necessarily linked to the heatwave or the extreme heat”, she clarified.
More information to come…
