The country has suffered several intense heat waves in recent weeks. Using a fan, showering with lukewarm water, staying hydrated… these are all good practices that the French have adopted to try to cope with the extreme heat, as best they can and with the resources available to them. But for some, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

In fact, with almost 3,000 deaths,   mortality in Île-de-France more than doubled compared to its normal level during the exceptional heat wave at the end of June,   according to a regional report updated with new data by the French Public Health Agency on Thursday, July 16, 2026.

“In the Île-de-France region (between June 22 and 28), a very high excess mortality rate was observed in the context of a heat wave,”   with a variation of   “+122%, or +1,565 deaths between the expected and observed number of deaths  ,”   the report states. These figures are the most precise to date on the  health impact of the June heat wave in the Paris region, one of the hardest hit in terms of mortality by this event, which was even more intense than the unprecedented heat wave of 2003.

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