Drownings surge past 300 in France amid heatwaves

PARIS: France has recorded more than 300 drownings this summer, up sharply from last year, a minister said Sunday, linking the surge to the heatwaves that have swept Europe.

The 301 drownings since June 19 are an increase of 14 percent from the summer of 2025, Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari told France Inter radio.

She called it a “sad toll”, saying the increase was “in line with the repeated heatwaves” that have hit many European countries — a phenomenon experts say is driven by human-caused climate change.

“Lots of people have sought to hit the water, with risky behaviour,” she added.

“Many deadly accidents have occurred in areas that are not authorised or supervised for swimming.”

On July 15, Ferrari gave an initial summer drownings toll of 142 deaths.

Much of Europe is bracing for repeated heatwaves and periods of scorching temperatures that have driven rivers to record lows, ignited historic forest fires and contributed to thousands of deaths.

The national weather agency Meteo-France earlier warned that the southeast would see temperatures as high as 35C, spreading further across the country as the week progresses.

The agency also warned that due to climate change, “future summers will generally be hotter than those experienced to date”.

Both France and the UK have seen thousands of excess deaths during previous heatwaves this year.