France broke records: "The hottest summer ever"

The current summer was the hottest measured in France since records began, announced today (Thursday) Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, during the presentation of Météo-France's summer summary, which covers the months of June to August. "The summer of 2026 was and remains difficult," said Pannier-Runacher, adding: "We experienced the hottest summer measured since the beginning of measurements in 1900."

The minister described the summer as a period in which France demonstrated solidarity "in the face of the intensity of a phenomenon known for a long time, but which is manifesting with new strength in our territory," and called for resilience. She announced that in the coming days she will present a multi-year investment plan to Sébastien Lecornu, after the Prime Minister tasked her at the end of July to promote new measures that will accelerate the implementation of France's national plan for adaptation to climate change. On Thursday, Pannier-Runacher promised to present the conclusions "by the end of September," including a five-year funding plan.

CEO of Météo-France, Virginie Schwarz, detailed the exceptional conditions that prevailed during the summer. According to her, high-pressure conditions persisted over France throughout the summer, and in combination with climate change, they explain the heavy heat, the lack of rain, and the dryness of the soil. "This summer would have been almost impossible without climate change," she emphasized. Schwarz noted that there is a gap of five degrees between the average temperature recorded in the summer and the temperature observed at the beginning of the industrial era, at the end of the 19th century.

According to her, half of the gap is attributed directly to climate change, while the other half stems from natural variability, as even in an average climate that has warmed, there are still hotter and cooler years.

Daily measurements taken throughout the summer pointed to new records. Schwarz said that compared to the average of the last 30 years, a gap of 3.6 degrees was recorded — significantly higher than the gap recorded in the summer of 2003, which stood at 2.7 degrees and was considered until now a historical reference point in the field, and also higher than the summer of 2022, which was already at a very high level. The heatwaves were deadly across Europe, and authorities in France reported thousands of excess deaths.

In Paris, where many homes do not have air conditioning, some residents stuck silver escape sheets on their windows in an attempt to prevent the sun from penetrating the homes. Schools were closed, and there was a rush for fans and air conditioners. "We will not renovate all schools by next summer," said Pannier-Runacher, but added that "at the very least we can install shutters and air fans." She acknowledged that there were "situations where we could have been better prepared."

The heavy heat was not limited to France. According to partial data from about half of the European continent, at least 35,000 additional people died during the four heatwaves that broke records one after another this summer, beyond the number of deaths that would have been expected normally. In three of the largest countries in the European Union — Germany, France, and Spain — the number of excess deaths has already crossed the 25,000 mark, according to preliminary national data, and experts said that the number is expected to rise significantly after the completion of the August data.

The consecutive heatwaves that hit Western Europe since May broke historical temperature records of all time at hundreds of measuring stations. In France, a day was also recorded with the hottest national average ever measured.