France Activates Emergency Heat Protocol as Record Temperatures Grip Nation

The French government took the unprecedented step of activating an “Orsec extreme heat plan” on Friday for departments facing a renewed heatwave forecast to persist into next week.

The emergency protocol applies to nine departments under a red heat alert: Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, Sarthe, Loire-Atlantique, Vendée, Maine-et-Loire, Vienne, and Deux-Sèvres. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon confirmed the activation followed extensive consultations and preparatory work.

National weather forecaster Météo France placed nine western departments on red alert for extreme heat on Friday, with 72 others under orange alert. The red warning will expand to 24 departments — including all of Île-de-France — by Saturday at noon.

The Orsec plan, typically reserved for natural disasters such as floods, serves as an emergency response and relief mechanism for exceptional events.

Wildfires Consume Twice the Land Area Compared to 2023

Wildfires have scorched twice as much territory in France so far this year compared to the same period last year, officials reported Friday. The nation is enduring its third heatwave since May, with fires raging across multiple regions over the past week — the latest in a series of deadly extreme weather episodes that scientists have linked to human-driven climate change.

“Since the beginning of the year, we have recorded a little over 8,000 fire outbreaks in our country, affecting an estimated burnt area of more than 25,000 hectares,” said Julien Marion, director general of civil security. “That is roughly double what had been recorded last year by the same date.”

France’s High Council for Climate warned Thursday that the country’s policies to combat global warming remain “insufficient.”

“We are entering a dangerous zone,” said council expert Valérie Masson-Delmotte. “Our infrastructure, land-use planning, ecosystems, and the management of our economic activities and sociocultural practices have evolved based on a climate that no longer exists.”

Official figures show more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave and 300 during late May’s high temperatures. The government announced Friday it would open “cooling centres” for vulnerable populations, including the elderly and homeless.

Six thousand of the 30,000 air conditioning units pledged to the nation’s hospitals have been delivered and installed, Bregeon confirmed. France operates more than 2,900 health facilities, according to last year’s data.

High temperatures are expected to continue until Bastille Day, France’s national holiday, on 14 July, according to Météo France.

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