France’s heatwaves in numbers: seven stats from a record-breaking summer

France continues to face a summer of difficulties, spearheaded by droughts, wildfires, and cyberattacks on national infrastructure.

These issues have caused at best headaches for the government, and at worse millions of euros of damage, the loss of life, and devastation to France’s natural resources.

Included in this heady list of summer woes are a series of record-breaking heatwaves, the last of which has only just ended.

Between May and August, France recorded five distinct heatwaves (the last two coming as two spikes in a prolonged period), the most recorded across a single year.

The possibility of a sixth heatwave in the coming weeks is not yet off the table, with state forecaster Météo France predicting warmer than average temperatures for the coming two months.

The heatwaves have contributed to the wildfires and droughts, as well as decimating crops and leading to a potential food shortage. 

Below, we look at some of the most eye-catching statistics from a record-breaking summer of heat.

1. 136 weather stations recorded all-time highs 

The starkest records from this summer no doubt come from the temperatures themselves. 

Hundreds of communes saw monthly highs broken between May - August during each successive round of heatwaves. Records were broken across all regions of France. 

It is impossible to list the exact number of new monthly highs recorded across 2026 as there were simply too many across the four-month period, with some areas seeing new records several times across a single heatwave.

One figure that stands out however is the number of all-time high temperatures recorded at weather stations operated by state forecaster Météo France. 

Across this summer, 136 stations in mainland France and Corsica recorded new all-time highs, beating out every previous recording – some going back to the 19th century.

Many of these came during the intense second heatwave, between June 22 - 28. 

2. High of more than 40C in Normandy

This includes highs in cities across the west of France – 42.5C at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport (Gironde) 42.7C in Niort (Deux-Sèvres) and La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), and 42C in Vannes (Morbihan).

However, cities as far north as Caen (Calvados) saw new record highs, with the Norman city reaching 40.8C.

In the east, new record temperatures across Alsace were around 1.5C warmer than any previously recorded. 

A map showing the location of the stations that saw new all-time highs is available here.

3. A July night time temperature of 30.6C 

It is worth noting that all of these temperature recordings are made in the shade, meaning it felt considerably warmer in these areas when in direct sunlight.

Several new night-time highs were also recorded across France, including in Vivès  (Pyrénées-Orientales) where temperatures did not drop below 30.6C on July 9. 

These nuits tropicales are particularly dangerous as it prevents bodies and buildings from cooling down following day-time heatwave conditions. 

The ‘heat-dome’ effect in place across France during the first three major heatwaves saw overnight temperatures climb steadily as radiation could not escape and cooler air did not enter the country.

4. National temperature high broken on three consecutive days 

Another grim heat-based statistic from the June heatwave came when France broke its all-time national average high temperature for three consecutive days. 

The national average temperature covers conditions across the mainland and Corsica, accounting for day- and night-time temperatures.

A new record of 29.8C was recorded on June 23 (beating out the previous 29.4C record from 2003), before averages of 29.9C and 30C were recorded on June 24 and 25 respectively.

Except for a brief period in June, the national average temperature remained above seasonal averages for essentially the whole summer, and is only set to drop below average again this weekend.

5. 52 days of heatwave conditions 

For those who felt the heatwave was never ending this summer, they are not too far off the mark with their estimation. 

Between June 17 and August 19, France spent a record 52 days under heatwave conditions, according to Météo France data. 

This includes 14 days in June, 16 days in early July and another lasting 22 days between the end of July and August 19. 

Note this final period covers two separate temperature spikes across France – often classified by media outlets including The Connexion as two separate heatwave periods of the five seen this summer – while long-lasting heat in the south officially kept the country at a national heatwave level.

For these statistics, a ‘heatwave’ is considered as being in place when national average temperatures reach 25.3C for one day, and remains at or above 23.4C for at least three consecutive days. 

It is a national recording and separate to the departmental warnings put in place during periods of hot weather, used by media outlets when discussing the five heatwaves this summer (so the five separate times heatwave alerts were raised across France by the state forecaster). 

May’s heatwave – despite seeing highs well above average and leading to certain heatwave ‘alerts’ – did not count as a heatwave in these national recordings due to its relatively short nature and localisation in the west and centre of the country.

A heatwave ‘ends’ when national average temperatures drop below 23.4C for at least three days in a row or falls briefly below 22.4C on a single day.

The number of heatwave days recorded in 2026 is the highest by far since records began in 1947. 

For example, three separate heatwave periods were recorded in 2022, yet combined only saw France face 33 days of heatwave conditions. The deadly 2003 heatwave, which caused around 15,000 deaths in France, was only in place for 22 days. 

The single-longest heatwave in France, recorded in July 1983, lasted for 23 days.

6. 2,000 heat-related emergency room visits in one day

During the most intense periods of the heatwaves, French authorities raised emergency temperature-based ‘Orsec’ plans, increasing resources for local authorities to deal with the effects of the heatwave and opening ‘cooling centres’ for vulnerable people. 

Hospitals across the country also implemented their ‘plan blanc’, emergency periods where an influx of patients are expected. 

The exact death toll from the summer heatwave will not be known for several weeks, but early indicators paint a grim picture. 

Between June 17 and July 2 alone, 5,764 excess deaths were recorded, said state health body Santé publique France. This is 36.2% above average for the period. 

People aged 75 and above accounted for 3,719 of these deaths, however for the first time during a heatwave period, excess mortality rates were recorded across all age groups from 15+. 

On June 26 alone, 2,089 heat-related emergency room visits were recorded, a level never before seen since health monitoring began in 2004.

7. 274 drowning deaths so far this summer

A side-effect of the heatwaves and people’s desperate attempts to cool down is a spike in drowning deaths across France.

Between May 1 and July 15, 274 drowning deaths were recorded, mostly in rivers and waterways. 

Figures for the latter half of summer are not yet available, but it is expected that the death toll will surpass 2025, when a record 409 people died from drowning in the summer.