France reports – France’s public health agency says around 1,000 additional deaths occurred during three days of record-smashing heat. Across Europe, new temperature records, wildfires, storms and infrastructure damage have followed the surge, as the WHO warns the continent is
France counted about 1,000 more deaths last week as an extreme, record-smashing heat wave swept across the country and then began spreading eastward, the government’s public health agency said Sunday.
The toll came during the height of the hottest stretch. when temperatures toppled records across Europe. wildfires flared and emergency crews were pushed to handle not just heat stress but the chaos that followed it. The World Health Organization’s director-general. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. also warned Sunday that Europe is now the fastest-warming continent. calling for faster action to protect residents.
France’s public health agency said deaths rose sharply during the three days when the heat peaked. It reported more than 1. 200 deaths on Wednesday. when France was sweltering under its hottest temperatures. increasing to more than 1. 400 deaths on each of the two following days. Before the heat wave—during April and May—the agency said France’s daily death rate was about 900 to 1,000.
The agency concluded that France experienced a total of at least 1,000 additional deaths during those three days alone. It cautioned the estimate is likely to increase as more data is collected, including deaths at home. The increase was steepest in areas under red warnings of extreme heat. which blanketed about three-quarters of the country at the peak. The agency also said 85% of the deaths involved people aged 65 and above.
The scale of the crisis is not limited to France. On the weekend, temperature records were toppled in several countries, wildfires were sparked in Germany, and Berlin police used water cannons to cool down crowds.
As the heat wave moved slowly toward eastern Europe. Germany marked a new record for the third day in a row. reaching 41.7 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) in Neißemünde near the border with Poland. Poland’s neighbor also saw a new high: Germany recorded 40.5 C (104.9 F) in conditions described for Poland’s all-time high. with the Czech Republic setting a hottest-day-ever mark of 41.9 C (107.4 F). up from the previous record of 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 F) on Saturday.
A rapid study from the World Weather Attribution said Friday that Europe’s record-breaking heat and humidity would not have been possible without climate change. The group found the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago. and that it is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Sunday that Europe is heating at twice the global average and that the region’s homes. workplaces and schools were not built for these conditions. He said that right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat. hundreds have died. schools are shut. and grids are buckling. He added that more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since June 21 linked to high temperatures in Europe. Tedros called on European countries to implement action plans focused on preparedness, prevention, and stronger health system responses.
The heat brought its own injuries and also set the stage for other hazards. In Sweden, TT reported that several people were injured when they were hit by lightning at an amusement park. Three adults were taken to the hospital. including a woman with serious injuries. after the lightning struck the Tosselilla Sommarland park in Tomelilla in the south of the country.
Across the region, severe thunderstorms followed the heat. Denmark, which set new temperature records on Saturday, recorded 1,156 lightning strikes by Sunday morning, according to public broadcaster DR.
Wildfire risks worsened as firefighters contended with conditions left behind by earlier conflicts. In Gohrischheide. in eastern Germany. a fire broke out in a large forest still contaminated with ammunition from World War II. In southwest Germany near the village of Traisen. a major firefighting operation was underway as the heat sparked a forest fire in an area that also contained unexploded ordnance. Firefighters had to stop work temporarily after explosions took place. and an ordnance disposal unit was brought in to continuously assess the situation. German news agency dpa reported. Some 650 people in Traisen had to leave their homes Sunday afternoon because the fire continued to spread.
In major cities, heat-related illness pulled ambulances into nonstop work. Fire departments in big cities sent out ambulances for people suffering from heat-related illnesses. In Berlin, an additional 500 ambulance dispatches were reported on Saturday, most of them heat-related.
Berlin also responded in a more visible way. Police placed two huge water cannons—typically used to disperse unruly protesters—in front of the Brandenburg Gate and sprayed cool water across a cheering crowd.
The heat didn’t stop at people and fire. It damaged infrastructure too. Concrete surface on highways broke up, and Deutsche Bahn issued a weekend warning to avoid all unnecessary train travel.
More than 600 passengers were evacuated from an overheated train in Brandenburg after a tree fell onto an overhead power line during a storm on Saturday evening. The train, traveling from Hamburg to Prague, lost power. The air conditioners stopped working and the doors were locked until emergency responders forced them open. Dpa reported that two people were hospitalized with heat-related problems.
In Leipzig, no trams would be running until early Monday morning due to heat damage to tracks and switches. The Leipzig Public Transportation Authority said the high temperatures caused the joint sealant for asphalt and concrete in switches and tracks to run and clump together in many places across the city’s network.
Between the rising death toll in France and the cascading disruptions—records falling. fires burning. thunderstorms lashing. and transport systems impaired—the message from officials and researchers has been consistent. The timing and scale of the heat have become hard to treat as something that will pass quickly. especially as it keeps showing up across more years and more places.
France heat wave deaths Europe extreme heat World Weather Attribution WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Germany heat record Berlin water cannons wildfires unexploded ordnance Deutsche Bahn travel warning
A thousand more deaths just cuz it was hot? That’s wild.
I saw a headline about “record heat” and thought it was like one neighborhood or something, not like across the whole country. If they’re saying 1,000 more deaths, is that confirmed or just estimates? Also isn’t France doing better with healthcare than most of Europe?
So they’re saying Europe is the fastest-warming continent now… but didn’t we always say that like years ago? Feels like they just keep changing the wording. Wildfires, storms, infrastructure damage too… I guess the heat caused all of that instantly? People should’ve stayed inside but honestly they always say that and then nothing changes.
This is scary, but I don’t understand how they get “more deaths” so fast. Like how do they even know it was the heat wave specifically vs something else that happened those days? And if the numbers were 1,200 then 1,400 the next days, that’s like ramping up crazy. Also the WHO guy talking like it’s the continent’s fault… sure, but what are they doing besides warning? Seems like same speech every summer.