Guest post: France’s June heatwave caused more than 2,700 heat-related deaths

In June 2026, a record-breaking heatwave swept across Europe, with France among the first and hardest hit countries. 

In a new analysis, we estimate that the extreme conditions caused more than 2,700 heat-related deaths in France.

We also show how France’s extreme temperatures in June exceeded projections from climate models.

Our findings illustrate the human toll of extreme weather as the world warms.

We also highlight the challenges in projecting the magnitude of future heatwaves and their impacts on people.

Outpacing projections

For most of this century, Europe has seen summer heat extremes that outpace projections from climate models. 

Several different factors likely explain this trend, including reductions in planet-cooling aerosols as nations have cleaned up their air pollution, as

Original Record.

This archived record authored by ‘Carbon Brief Staff’ at ‘Carbon Brief’ was recovered from data set:

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-frances-june-heatwave-caused-more-than-2700-heat-related-deaths/