France was one of the countries to experience the most extreme heatwave episodes, compared with the norm, in summer 2026 – with drought conditions set to continue into autumn and even winter in many areas.
The summer saw five official canicules, compared with three in summer 2022, also considered a critical year for water shortages.
As of August, 92 departments had restrictions in place on tap water use and more than 40,000 people have been affected by tap water stoppages.
In certain communes where springs have dried up or water supplies are insufficient to meet local needs, water is being supplied by tankers or through the distribution of bottled water.
Rivers and streams are at historically low levels, with serious consequences for agriculture and biodiversity and dozens of canal locks are shut so they are no longer navigable.
'We've been especially hard hit'
Hydrologist Eric Sauquet, a river expert who works on climate change and its impact on water resources at public research body INRAE in Lyon, gave a striking example of the effects this has had.
“Along with dry watercourses, there are aquatic ecosystems suffering from a lack of water, due also to water temperatures that are very, very high.
“As a result, there have been rescue operations: fishing associations and environmental organisations have gone out to rescue fish that were trapped – or were expected to be trapped soon because the watercourse was about to run dry – and transfer them to neighbouring watercourses or lakes.”
Dr Sauquet said periods of cooler weather had been in short supply this summer.
“We’ve been especially hard hit this year by droughts and heatwaves, which means 2026 will be a particularly remarkable year.
“We often find ourselves comparing this event to that of 1976 and also to 2022, since the youngest among us did not experience 1976, and 2022 is fresher in people’s memories.”
He said there is a scientific consensus that this is part of global warming, with average temperatures rising alongside extreme peaks, although summers will not necessarily become more severe every year.
“Today in France we still unfortunately have certain media outlets which still put forward somewhat climate-sceptical messages, but we hope that science is becoming better at making its voice heard and that the last people to be convinced are now becoming convinced.
"Having said that, there are still people who refuse to accept this reality and the issue of human responsibility for the climate changes we’ve been experiencing for the past 20 years.”
Asked about the next 10 years, he said it is complicated to make predictions in the medium term.
“The climate has a somewhat chaotic structure, which means the average temperature is rising, but there are variations from one year to the next.
“Overall, we’re heading towards warmer years, and the closer we get to the end of the 21st century, the lower the probability of cool summers becomes.”
Groundwater levels have, however, reportedly been better than in 2022 or 2023, which Dr Sauquet attributed to a relatively wet winter.
“However, we had a rainfall deficit this year, coupled with very, very high temperatures very early in the year – which meant surface water resources plummeted quickly.
"Today the vast majority of monitored watercourses are well below the historical average.”
Countermeasures
Dr Sauquet led the Explore2 project, which modelled how climate change could affect France’s future water resources and, he said, “the future is not optimistic”.
“The risk of drought is set to increase as the century progresses. So, we must prepare for events on the scale we have seen this year and try to find solutions.”
Some communes are making supplies more resilient by connecting previously separate water networks, reducing reliance on a single source, he said.
“It essentially involves laying pipes – I’m perhaps oversimplifying – but the aim is to create connections between networks that are isolated from one another, so that by interconnecting them, we can benefit from a much larger network.
“We’re also trying to convince all water users – citizens, farmers, industrialists and others – to be more economical in their water consumption.”
He encouraged people to regularly check if their area is under a vigilance alert or water restrictions on the VigiEau website.
Many areas have restrictions on watering or filling up swimming pools and with inspections said to be increasing this year, fines are increasingly likely.
In one case, in Tourettes-sur-Loup, Alpes-Maritimes, high consumption of two homes was feared to be putting the village’s supply at risk.
After both received warnings, one owner was seen to continue watering and was handed a fine.
At home, Dr Sauquet said measures can be as simple as not leaving taps running unnecessarily, checking for leaks and being mindful of water use when bathing or showering.
At government level, France launched a Plan Eau in 2023, setting out 53 measures to preserve water resources.
“Some measures have been implemented, while others have not. The task now is to assess this, and also to see whether there are still gaps and the plan needs to be supplemented.
“Broadly speaking, the 2026 drought highlights the issue of how regions adapt to water shortages. We still have a lot of work to do, because certain sectors have been hard hit.”
Agriculture faces a particular problem because heat increases evaporation and dries soils, while lack of rain increases demand for irrigation. Forests have also been affected, with drought increasing the risk of fires starting and spreading.
Dr Sauquet highlighted France’s ONDE monitoring network, which checks 3,000 watercourses for signs of drying.
“At the end of each month, an observer goes out to check whether there is water in the river or not. This dates back to 2012 and we are seeing record figures this year.”
He warned that water restrictions could remain in place well into the autumn in some areas, depending on rainfall.
“If we look at what happened in 2022 – which also experienced severe low-water conditions – by early December, 28 departments were still subject to water-use restrictions.”
By comparison, in previous years a maximum of around 10 departments had still faced restrictions at that point, and usually the figure was between one and three.
“So, we’re all waiting for the rain to return to try and get out of this situation. That said, a few thunderstorms won’t be enough to generate sufficient flow rates to lift these restrictions. We need rainfall that is sustained over time, rather than heavy, devastating downpours.”
Looking further ahead, he said climate projections indicate a clear north-south divide.
“The south of France will certainly be much more affected by more severe droughts than the north. I’d say south of the Loire, south of Lyon.”
Alpine areas are also expected to see more winter precipitation falling as rain rather than snow as temperatures rise.
Loss of glaciers, which normally release meltwater in summer, will also mean reduced summer flows in mountain rivers as the century progresses.
Dr Sauquet said: “The challenge facing European countries is that we need to learn from these events to avoid facing a crisis every summer, but rather to have a long-term solution – to consider adaptation measures that involve everyone, all sectors of use, agriculture and industry, underpinned by the ambition to preserve ecosystems as well.
“Because that is important, as is biodiversity. This is certainly one of the challenges we’ll face by the end of summer 2026, and it will affect many of us.”
