Key Points

• A widespread and extremely intense heat wave affected mainland France beginning on June 16. Météo France issued an orange heat wave alert from June 18 to July 2, covering 90 departments—representing 95% of the mainland population. A red heat wave alert was issued from June 21 to 28, affecting a record 72 departments, or 77% of the population.
• According to Météo-France, this was a heat wave of exceptional severity, with an intensity exceeding that of August 2003. This episode is comparable in duration but occurred at a different time of summer (June 2026 vs. August 2003). Exposure to heat in June may be more significant in school and workplace settings, as well as during large festive or sporting gatherings.
• The number of emergency care visits across all age groups for the iCanicule indicator (hyperthermia/heatstroke, dehydration, and hyponatremia) rose sharply starting on June 22, reaching a record high of 698 SOS Médecins consultations on June 25 and 2,089 emergency room visits on June 26. Such levels have never been observed since syndromic surveillance began in 2004.
• The number of hospitalizations following emergency room visits for the iCanicule indicator began to rise on June 18 and peaked at 1,215 hospitalizations on June 26. In total, between June 18 (the first orange heat wave alert) and June 29 (the cutoff date for the data in this bulletin), 6,351 hospitalizations were recorded, two-thirds of which involved people aged 75 and older. Of these hospitalizations, 153 were in intensive care/resuscitation units; 50% of these involved people aged 45 to 74, and 40% involved people aged 75 and older.
• Although there has been a decline since June 26 in the use of emergency care for the iCanicule indicator and in associated hospitalizations, the levels observed on June 29 remained very high.
• All age groups were affected by these emergency care visits, particularly people aged 75 and older.
• The observed increases are consistent with temperature trends. These impacts on emergency care use illustrate the severity of the effects of heat exposure on the population’s health across all age groups. These impacts underscore the importance of implementing prevention and adaptation measures for the entire population, based on weather forecasts, without waiting to observe actual impacts.