Some 1,000 additional heat deaths recorded in France

Key Points:

• France experienced around 1,000 additional deaths last week during its record-breaking heat wave, with the highest increases in the Paris region and among those aged 65 and above, according to the national public health agency.
• Europe is currently the fastest-warming continent, heating at twice the global average, with over 150 million people living under extreme heat; WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that heat waves are now occurring nearly every year due to climate change.
• Several European countries, including Germany and the Czech Republic, set new temperature records, while wildfires broke out in forests contaminated with unexploded WWII ammunition, complicating firefighting efforts.
• Heat-related infrastructure damage disrupted transportation, with broken highways, suspended tram services in Leipzig, and a train evacuation in Brandenburg due to power loss and overheating.
• In Berlin, police used water cannons to cool down crowds at the Brandenburg Gate, and severe thunderstorms following the heat wave caused lightning injuries in Sweden and numerous strikes in Denmark.