France records around 1,000 excess deaths in heatwave

French health officials have said there has been around 1,000 more deaths than expected during a record-breaking heatwave that has baked much of western Europe for days.

"Since June 24, approximately 1,000 additional deaths (unconsolidated figures) have been observed compared to the deaths recorded in previous months," Public Health France said in a statement.

The agency said areas under red alert for heat had been particularly badly affected, and 85% of the deaths had been those aged 65 and over.

The sharpest increases, the agency said, involved people dying at home, especially in the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris and its suburbs.

"This observation serves as a reminder of the need for measures of solidarity toward people who are isolated or experiencing profound loneliness, including in highly urbanised areas," the statement said.

The agency stressed that the figures were preliminary and were likely to be an underestimate.

The heat has eased across France this morning after days of high temperatures that saw the mercury rising above 40C in many areas.

Temperature records shattered in Europe

Preliminary all-time temperature records were set yesterday in Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic, and a new mark for the month of June in Switzerland.

Similar records had been broken earlier this week in France and Britain.

Such was the heat in Berlin, where temperatures climbed to 39C yesterday, that police deployed two water cannons in the city to lightly spray people trying to cool down.

A new preliminary German record of 41.5C in Moeckern-Drewitz in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt topped a record set just the day before of 41.3C near Saarbruecken on the French border, Germany's Meteorological Service said.

The Danish Meteorological Institute meanwhile reported a 37C reading north of the city of Aarhus on Saturday, the highest on record since measurements began in 1874.

Officials in the Czech Republic measured a record 40.9C north of Prague, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said.

In the Slovak capital Bratislava, authorities recorded the hottest night on record on Friday.