5,700 more deaths than usual recorded in France during heat wave

At least 5,700 more people than usual died in France last month, as the country endured a historic heat wave, French public health officials said. That figure represented a sharp increase in the estimated death toll nationwide from June and early July's record temperatures.

Public Health France said regions hit by the heat from June 17 to July 2 recorded 21,674 deaths from all causes. But without a heat wave, those same regions would have been expected to have seen far fewer deaths, or 15,910, based on statistical modeling using data from previous years, it said.

The difference between expected and actual deaths — a total of 5,764 — are therefore considered to be "excess" deaths during the heat wave, the agency said.

It said the excess mortality, with 36% more deaths that would normally have been expected, was the highest from any heat wave since 2003. A historic heat wave that year caused an estimated 15,000 deaths in France.

France registered its hottest-ever days on June 24 and June 25 this year — with a national average of 86 degrees Fahrenheit — as well as record heat at night and peak temperatures that soared well above 104 degrees in many places.

Just over half of the unexpected deaths occurred during and in the immediate wake of that hottest period, over three days from June 25 to June 27, the public health agency said.

"This unprecedented episode, characterized by its early onset, intensity, and duration, exposed nearly the entire population to extreme heat during a period when school and work activities were still in full swing," the agency noted.

There were 40 deaths from drowning recorded in France over just one week in June, as people turned to swimming in hopes of finding relief from the heat.

All told, across Europe, extreme temperatures that hit exceptionally early and hard this year saw well over 10,000 more deaths at the height of the heat wave than would normally have been expected, according to figures that are still emerging across the continent.

Throughout Western Europe, it was the hottest June on record, according to a report by the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Climate expert Samantha Burgess said in a statement that the report's findings "underscored how profoundly the climate is changing," adding that skyrocketing temperatures "reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat."

As the end of last month approached, the World Health Organization chief announced that Europe had reported more than 1,300 heat-related deaths in just over a week, many of which were reported in France. And French officials told CBS