France’s heat wave is deadly: Death toll rises by almost 30% as record heat hits Europe | Today’s news
Record-breaking heatwaves have claimed thousands of lives in France, with reports suggesting that the number of deaths in the European country rose by almost a third in the hottest week of the record heatwave last month.
France has endured a nearly 30 percent increase in the number of deaths recorded in the week since June 22, health authorities said on Friday, according to the AFP news agency.
Heat waves in France
France recorded its warmest June since records began in 1947, weather service Meteo-France said. The heatwave from June 17 to 30 saw temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius in more than 40 percent of the country.
Health authorities reportedly said there was at least an “increase of 29.1 percent, equivalent to 2,025 additional deaths” in the week from June 22, when temperatures peaked, compared to the previous week.
France’s public health organization said it had counted 8,973 deaths so far this week, warning that the figure was still only partial. It said the preliminary total was 29% higher than the 6,948 deaths recorded in the previous week from June 15 to June 21, when the heat wave began.
The difference between the two sets of numbers — a total of 2,025 so far — is therefore considered to be more deaths from one week to the next, from all causes and across all age groups, according to the Associated Press.
New and still incomplete figures from Public Health France doubled its first preliminary estimate of at least 1,000 more deaths, which it reported last Sunday. That earlier estimate included only the three hottest days of extreme, deadly heat.
Amid accusations of ill-preparedness for extreme heat that has forced school closures and train cancellations, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecorne’s government faces a no-confidence vote in parliament, possibly as soon as Monday.
France’s public health noted a “clear increase” in deaths among 45- to 64-year-olds. “However, the largest proportion of deaths are people aged 65 and over,” he added.
The number of deaths in the Paris region increased by around 62 percent over the same period, Public Health France added. Scientists have said that human-made climate change is “unequivocally” responsible for the intensity of the heat wave that hit Europe in late June.
He dies at home
Deaths at home almost doubled in just one week, Public Health France added.
Lecornu said more people died in their homes during the latest heat wave than in previous installments.
Health officials said young people were among the victims.
During the last week of June, four young children died across France in parked cars that overheated.
Some politicians say France has failed to put measures in place to deal with rising temperatures.
Around 15,000 people died in France during a severe heat wave in 2003, with many elderly people dying in nursing homes.
The June heat wave is considered more intense, but the effects were less severe, according to authorities.
“It probably won’t be comparable,” Health Secretary Stephanie Rist said Friday.
Nicolas Revel, chief executive of the Paris public hospital system, said he expected the death toll from the June heatwave to be lower than in 2003, but “probably” higher than last year’s episode, which claimed 5,700 lives.
The Greens claimed the June heatwave could have caused 10,000 deaths in France, prompting a strong rebuttal from Lecorn.
Last month’s heat wave caused thousands of deaths in Europe, according to estimates from France, Spain and Belgium.
Belgium recorded 39 percent more deaths than usual between June 18 and 29, with 1,222 excess deaths during the period, the country’s health authorities said on Friday.
France also experienced an unusually early heat wave in May, with health officials saying at least 300 more than expected died during the period.
