Key points

• According to Météo France, in mainland France, the summer of 2022 ranks as the second-hottest summer recorded in France since the beginning of the 20th century. The 2022 summer monitoring period was marked by three heatwave episodes, two of which placed departments along the Atlantic coast under a red alert, and two successive episodes lasting about a dozen days in the Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. This summer was also marked by other extreme weather events such as drought, wildfires, thunderstorms, and a heatwave in the Mediterranean Sea. Regarding health monitoring, key figures include:

  • 2,816 excess deaths (+17%) were estimated during heatwave periods in the departments where biometeorological alert thresholds were exceeded. The summer monitoring period showed the highest excess mortality since the implementation of the National Heatwave Plan in 2004. People aged 75 and older accounted for the vast majority of these excess deaths, associated with a high relative excess mortality rate of +20%.

  • 2,060 emergency room visits and 680 SOS Médecins consultations for hyperthermia, dehydration, and hyponatremia (iCanicule indicator) were observed in regions where biometeorological alert thresholds were exceeded this summer.

• The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region was also affected by three successive heat waves of moderate intensity but unprecedented overall duration, the first observed in June, the second in July, and the third in late July/early August 2022. During the periods when thresholds were exceeded, 3 to 34 days of heatwaves were recorded depending on the department, with Isère and Drôme being the two departments with the highest cumulative number of heatwave days in France. A significant impact on health was observed during these periods:

  • 473 excess deaths were estimated for the periods when biometeorological alert thresholds were exceeded in the affected departments, representing a relative excess mortality of +13%, mainly during the second episode. The region has the highest number of excess deaths after Occitanie. People aged 75 and older account for the vast majority of these excess deaths. COVID-19-related deaths in the departments affected by heatwave episodes were estimated at 151.

  • During heatwave episodes, 350 SOS Médecins interventions for the iCanicule indicator were recorded at the regional level, as well as 1,434 emergency room visits for the iCanicule indicator, 903 of which were followed by hospitalization. Emergency care visits accounted for up to 0.9% of daily emergency room visits and 2.5% of daily SOS Médecins calls. Although all age groups were affected, emergency room visits and SOS Médecins calls primarily involved people aged 75 or older.