Death toll from last summer’s French heatwaves nearly 6,000

A total 5,722 people died as a direct result of the summer heat in 2025, the third hottest summer on record and one which featured two severe extended heatwaves in late June/early July and in the middle of August, a Santé Publique France report shows.

Of those fatalities, more than 1,900 were attributed directly to heat exposure — which represented 12 percent of all deaths during the periods of high heat. 

Departements affected by heatwaves in summer 2025. Image: Santé Publique France

France’s Direction Générale du Travail, meanwhile, reported nine fatal workplace accidents possibly linked to heat, all on days when the maximum temperature passed 35C.

Deaths were observed across all age groups, but predominantly among people aged 75 and over, who accounted for nearly three-quarters of deaths throughout the summer and during heatwaves.

Hospitals, meanwhile, reported more than 24,000 visits to their Urgences departments for conditions related to the heat, particularly among older people. Those aged 75 and over accounted for 53 percent of all emergency room visits. Nearly 4,000 people consulted SOS Médecins.

Three graphics showing heatwave days in France, and the number of people going to emergency rooms in hospital or calling SOS Medicins for advice. Image: Santé Publique France

The average temperature during last year’s summer months was 1.9C above the 1991-2020 average, according to national forecaster Météo-France. 

The country baked under four heatwaves — the ones between June 19th and July 6th, and between August 8th and 19th were particularly severe, affecting 80 percent of the population across 69 départements.

Across those départements, an estimated 959 excess deaths — that is, more deaths than is statistically normal — were recorded during periods of heatwave in 2025, including heat-related mortality in the three days after a heatwave period ends. Of those, 779 were among people aged 75 and over.

Deaths attributed to heat between June 1st, 2025 and September 15th, 2025; and deaths attributed to heat during heatwaves last summer. Image: Santé Publique France

Of the 69 départements affected by at least one day of heatwave in the summer of 2025, only 14 did not show any excess deaths compared to expected mortality.

Hot summers in France generally lead to more deaths. In 2015 there were 3,000 fatalities linked to the heatwave that summer. And in 2000 the figure stood at 2,000.

But the deadliest summer remains 2003 when Europe baked under sweltering temperatures that caused the death of 70,000 people including 20,000 in France.

Since 2017, 40,000 deaths in France have been attributed to high summer temperatures. Each year, heat accounts for one to four percent of summer mortality and seven to 12 percent of mortality during heat waves, figures that have remained stable throughout those nine years.