In summary

Health monitoring conducted as part of the 2016 Heat Wave and Health Alert System shows:

• An atypical weather pattern characterized by a succession of heat episodes and heat waves, some of which occurred late in the season.

• An observed impact on morbidity through increased use of emergency care, but which did not lead to an overload of the healthcare system.

• A moderate excess mortality during heatwave periods (+8.7%), with contrasting patterns between the two heatwave episodes and variations across regions.

These results confirm the relationship between exposure to extreme heat and health.

The moderate health impact of the 2016 summer heatwaves underscores the importance of anticipating periods of extreme heat and the value of an information and prevention system.