Europe heatwave leaves 1,000 extra deaths in France amid record highs

Europe's heatwave caused around 1,000 additional deaths in France and set fresh records in Germany. The crisis exposed rising climate risks as wildfires, medical emergencies and transport damage spread across the region.

In Short

• Public Health France saw deaths surge sharply during the heatwave’s peak days
• Most victims were elderly, with red-alert regions reporting the steepest increases
• Berlin deployed water cannons as ambulance call-outs rose by hundreds

Europe’s record-breaking heatwave led to around 1,000 additional deaths in France last week, while several countries continued to report new temperature highs over the weekend. The extreme weather also triggered wildfires in parts of Germany, strained emergency services and damaged transport infrastructure as the heat moved slowly towards eastern parts of the continent.

In Berlin, police used water cannons near the Brandenburg Gate to cool residents and tourists as Germany endured fresh day and night temperature records. Greece remained on alert over wildfire risks, while Denmark, after setting new temperature records on Saturday, was hit by heavy thunderstorms.

France’s national public health agency said on Sunday that the country saw a sharp rise in deaths during the peak of the heatwave, along with an increase in calls to private homes, especially in the Paris region. There were more than 1,200 deaths on Wednesday, when France recorded its hottest temperatures ever, and more than 1,400 deaths on each of the following two days.

Before the heatwave, in April and May, France had recorded about 900 to 1,000 deaths a day. Public Health France said the country experienced at least 1,000 additional deaths over those three days alone, though it cautioned that the estimate could rise as more data, including deaths at home, is collected.

The agency said the increase in deaths was highest in areas under red warnings for extreme heat, which covered about three-quarters of the country at the peak of the heatwave. It added that 85 per cent of the deaths involved people aged 65 and above.

In Germany, preliminary data from the German Weather Service, or DWD, showed that a new night-time temperature record was reported on Sunday in Kubschtz in eastern Saxony, where the temperature did not fall below 29.4 degrees Celsius. That came only hours after a daytime record of 41.5 degrees Celsius was recorded in Mckern-Drewitz in Saxony-Anhalt. The previous record had been set just a day earlier.

A study released on Friday by World Weather Attribution, a Europe-based collaboration of scientists, said the record heat and humidity seen in Europe this week would not have been possible without climate change. The study said such heat would have been virtually impossible five decades ago and is 200 times more likely today than it was 20 years ago.

The heat also fuelled dangerous wildfires in Germany. In Gohrischheide in eastern Germany, a fire broke out in a large forest still contaminated with ammunition from World War II, making firefighting efforts more risky and difficult. A major operation was also underway near the town of Traisen in south-west Germany, where a forest fire broke out in an area containing unexploded ordnance.

According to German news agency dpa, firefighting had to be temporarily suspended after explosions took place, and an ordnance disposal unit was brought in to continuously assess the situation. Fire departments in major cities were also handling a rise in heat-related emergencies. In Berlin alone, an additional 500 ambulance dispatches were reported on Saturday, most of them linked to the heat.

Berlin police set up two large water cannons, usually used to disperse protesters, in front of the Brandenburg Gate and sprayed water across cheering crowds. The heat continued to affect infrastructure as well, with concrete surfaces on many highways breaking up and national rail operator Deutsche Bahn warning over the weekend against all unnecessary train travel.

In Leipzig in eastern Germany, tram services were suspended until early Monday because of heat damage to tracks and switches. The city’s public transport authority said high temperatures had caused the joint sealant used in asphalt and concrete on switches and tracks to melt and clump together in many parts of the network.

Elsewhere in Europe, Greece’s Civil Protection agency warned of a "very high fire risk" in five regions on Sunday. In Denmark, which had set new temperature records on Saturday, the extreme heat was followed by heavy thunderstorms. By Sunday morning, public broadcaster DR said the country had recorded 1,156 lightning strikes.

The heatwave left a deadly impact in France, pushed temperatures to new highs in Germany and raised wildfire concerns elsewhere in Europe, even as some countries began to see storms after days of extreme heat.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends