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The French public health agency detailed that the 2,025 additional deaths represented a 29 percent rise from the prior week, a figure that climbed to 62 percent in the greater Paris area. Health Minister Stéphanie Rist told local television there had been a clear increase in deaths among individuals over 45, a Reuters report from Friday noted. The agency emphasised that initial counts were probably an underestimate and that overall mortality would exceed these preliminary numbers.
Dutch health authorities separately placed excess deaths at around 480 for the same period, with the majority involving people aged 80 or older concentrated in the warmer southern and eastern regions of the country. A combined assessment by Reuters on July 3 put the three-country total at no fewer than 3,700, incorporating initial data from Belgium as well. Officials in all three nations cautioned that full tallies could increase substantially once further information from care facilities and private residences becomes available.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe has warmed at roughly twice the global rate over recent decades, registering an average increase of 0.56 degrees Celsius per decade since the mid-1990s. The service’s latest assessment links this trend to a rise in the frequency, intensity and duration of summer heatwaves, alongside heightened risks of drought and wildfires. Comparable conditions in 2003 produced an estimated 15,000 excess deaths in France alone, a benchmark several Reuters correspondents invoked when assessing the current event.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that 72 drownings had occurred since June 18 as residents sought relief in rivers and pools, while Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu disclosed that almost 7,000 wildfires had ignited this season, scorching more than 8,700 hectares of land. Météo-France placed southern districts under red alerts for both extreme heat and fire danger, noting that the outbreak risk stood very high relative to seasonal averages. Nearly 3,000 residents required evacuation after one blaze spread between Sainte-Marie-la-Mer and Canet-en-Roussillon on Thursday.
Meteorologists anticipate temperatures climbing again this weekend, with peaks of 40 degrees Celsius possible in southern France and 36 to 37 degrees around Bordeaux, Toulouse and Agen. Portugal has maintained a state of alert through Tuesday, where readings above 40 degrees and overnight lows exceeding 25 degrees are expected in places, the Aemet service indicated for the broader Iberian peninsula. Orange alerts cover parts of southwestern Spain, where similar highs are projected.
A Reuters compilation of regional updates showed record June temperatures registered in Britain and Switzerland together with power disruptions in France stemming from elevated electricity demand for cooling. Emergency services in Paris logged unusually high numbers of heat-related calls, with physician Patrick Pelloux describing 55 deaths in a single day as enormous compared with the typical three or four. Pelloux, president of the French emergency room doctors association, told Reuters that the surge left no doubt about the heatwave’s role in the fatalities.
