There's a major heatwave taking place across most of Europe this week. Here's visualization showing the "temperature anomalies" which have driven temperatures in many European capitals close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (and in some cases over that).
Europe is melting! The size, intensity, and longevity of this #heatwave is enormous. Peak temperatures will reach 45°C / 100-115°F this week in #France . You are looking at temperature anomalies in the cloud layer over the next 2 weeks, which peak at +20°C. #Europe is Earth’s… pic.twitter.com/JiCQm10nkN
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) June 22, 2026
This has unfortunately led to a spate of drowning deaths in France in just the past few days as people desperate for relief jump into rivers to cool off.
Forty people have drowned in heatwave-related deaths in France since last Thursday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said, as temperatures hit record levels in several major cities and the heatwave reaches a peak in several European countries.
France's sports minister said too many people were trying to cool off in rivers and canals without necessarily taking the risks into account.
Among the fatalities was a 13-year-old girl who had gone for a dip with her family in the River Seine at Fontaine-La Port on Sunday evening, although she did not know how to swim...
Several people have also drowned in Germany as temperatures are expected to climb as high as 40C in the west and south-west by the end of the week. The German Lifesaving Association (DLRG) said there were six fatal swimming incidents between Friday and Sunday with men in particular were overestimating their abilities in the water.
The high temperatures and the deaths associated with them recall the worst ever case of heat related deaths which happened across Europe back in 2003:
After a heat wave 23 years ago caused 70,000 deaths across this continent, European countries took steps to try to minimize the suffering next time around.
They created early warning systems, organized cooling shelters and helped hospitals get better prepared. Paris built a registry of elderly and vulnerable residents, who get check-in calls when temperatures climb.
This week, the continent is being swept by intense heat that is drawing comparisons to the disaster of 2003.
The total number of heat-related deaths has been quite high in recent years though these estimates aren't directly comparable.
The World Health Organization says more than 200,000 people across Europe have died from heat over the past four years.
Those numbers would seemingly point to a mortality rate not so different from 2003. But Joan Ballester, a research professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, said the death count from 2003 would likely be much higher if the same methodology were used as in more recent research of heat deaths.
If you're an American reading this, you're might be wondering why people facing extreme heat don't just remain inside where it's cool. And that brings us to the actual problem. Most people in Europe don't have air conditioning beyond maybe a fan or two.
About one-quarter of French homes have the cooling units. In Italy, half are equipped. Those numbers have ticked up over the years, but they don’t approach the levels in the United States and East Asia. French policymakers have tended to encourage passive cooling for buildings, like shading and greenery, noting that air-conditioning taxes energy grids and contributes to emissions.
The situation is even worse in other European countries.
While nearly 90% of US homes have air conditioning, in Europe it’s around 20%, and some countries have much lower rates. In the United Kingdom, only around 5% of homes have cooling systems — many of which are portable AC units. In Germany, the figure is 3%...
AC has traditionally been seen as a luxury rather than a necessity, especially as installing and running it can be expensive. Energy costs in many European countries are higher than in the US, while incomes tend to be lower.
In some of these places AC may not have been as necessary 30 or 40 years ago but now the heatwaves like the one happening now have been happening more frequently. But it's not just a matter of money or habitual thinking. In some cases, getting and AC approved is difficult in areas where homes are older.
Buildings on the continent tend to be older, built before AC technology became mainstream. In England, which has just endured its hottest June on record, one in six homes were built before 1900...
Sometimes a bigger problem is red tape, said Richard Salmon, the director of the Air Conditioning Company based in the UK.
UK authorities will often reject applications to install AC “on the basis of the visual appearance of the outdoor condenser unit, especially in conservation areas or on listed buildings,” he said.
And then there's the political/environmental angle.
Europe has pledged to become “climate neutral” by 2050 and a sharp increase in air conditioners will make climate commitments even harder to reach...
Using fossil fuel-powered AC increases planet-heating pollution, which in turn increases temperatures, fueling “a vicious cycle of worsening climate change,” said Radhika Khosla, an associate professor at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford.
In France this battle has become partisan.
France’s far-right politician Marine Le Pen has vowed to implement a “major air conditioning infrastructure plan,” while criticizing the “so-called French elites” who encourage others to seek alternative cooling methods while they “obviously enjoy air-conditioned cars and offices.”
Presumably no one would argue out loud that tens of thousands of heat-related deaths per year are justified by the need to avoid using fossil fuels. But that is what many environmentalists seem to believe. After this week there are some signs that even the French may decide it's time to stop listening to them.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is convening a new government heat crisis meeting Sunday, and ordered government ministers to plan for better adapting France to heat waves in the future — including “via air conditioning, if necessary.”
If dozens of people are drowning because they are so desperate to cool off, It's necessary.
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