More than 1,300 excess deaths in Europe amid brutal heatwave, WHO says
Europe has recorded more than 1,300 excess deaths since 21 June as searing temperatures gripped the continent, according to the World Health Organization.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, announced the figures in a post on social media on Sunday, stressing that "European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures".
Public Health France announced on Sunday that France had recorded around 1,000 more deaths than expected since Wednesday.
"Since June 24, approximately 1,000 additional deaths (unconsolidated figures) have been observed compared to the deaths recorded in previous months," the agency said in a statement.
The most-affected areas include those that have been under a red heat alert, particularly Île-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Normandy, and Pays de la Loire, the agency said, adding that 85% of the deaths involved people aged 65 or over.
Parts of France have topped 40°C this week, piling pressure on hospitals and first responders amid a surge in emergency callouts.
More than thirty departments were under a red heat alert for much of the week, and the country recorded its hottest-ever day on Wednesday, with the average 24-hour temperature hitting 30°C.
In Paris, authorities banned drinking alcohol in public over the weekend in an effort to relieve pressure on emergency services, while the city's Pride March, which had been scheduled to take place on Saturday, was also postponed. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum have also been closing early amid the hot weather.
People have been flocking to parks and canals across the city throughout the week to escape the scorching conditions, but authorities have warned of the danger of unsupervised swimming after a man drowned in the Canal Saint-Martin on Friday night.
"We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: swimming outside the times when supervised swimming is permitted, and outside the supervised areas, is dangerous," Emmanuel Grégoire, the mayor of Paris, wrote on X.
Ligue 2 footballer Kenzo Kies also died after reportedly drowning in the Rhône River during the heatwave.
In a statement, his club Guingamp said it was "saddened" to learn of the 21-year-old's death.
"En Avant Guingamp extends its deepest condolences to the family of Kenzo Kies and to all his loved ones, and offers them its full support during this difficult time," it added.
Temperatures have soared across Europe in recent days.
The United Kingdom recorded its hottest June day on record on Friday.
The Met Office, the UK's national weather and climate service, said provisional figures showed the village of Santon Downham in Suffolk hit 37.3°C.
Spain and Germany have also seen temperatures top 40°C.
According to Spain's Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo), more than 400 deaths may have been linked to temperature between Wednesday and Saturday. The number of excess deaths over the same period was 174, the system shows.