France Issues Heat Alerts as Dozens of European Cities Record All-Time High Temperatures

More than a dozen European countries, including France, issued heat alerts over the past week as cities recorded all-time high temperatures. In Paris, readings topped 103 degrees Fahrenheit while average temperatures across France reached their highest level ever recorded for the period.

Grist reported that France has maintained a national heat plan since 2004, developed after more than 14,800 deaths during a 2003 heat wave when temperatures stayed above 95 degrees Fahrenheit for two weeks.

The plan uses a four-tiered alert system. At the highest level, authorities open a national crisis center while local officials open cooling centers, ensure water access, and check on vulnerable residents. France’s meteorological and health agencies monitor forecasts together and issue alerts when risks rise.

Cities have added trees to cut urban heat, built shaded walkways and paths, and turned public spaces into cooling centers. About 25 percent of French households have air conditioning. Paris officials have run drills simulating temperatures up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the recent heat wave, more than 40 people drowned in France while swimming to cool off, many of them teenagers. A Spanish monitoring agency estimated more than 200 heat-related deaths in Spain over the same week. The elderly, children, and the unhoused face the greatest risks.

For much of 2024, European temperatures ran 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, and current trends point to a 5.6-degree Fahrenheit rise by 2100.