France records 1,000 excess deaths during record-breaking heatwave

France has ‌recorded 1,000 excess deaths during the blistering heatwave sweeping Europe, the public health ‌agency said on Sunday, warning that the true figure was likely to ​be higher.

Detailing its preliminary count of excess deaths, Sante Publique said most of the fatalities involved older people and that it expected ​the mortality rate to rise as more information became available about deaths ⁠in residential care and homes.

Europeans have been enduring ‌blistering ‌conditions ​during a heatwave that has been linked to dozens of deaths – shattering records, disrupting power ⁠generation and damaging infrastructure.

Scientists ​have said the heatwave, which ​began on June 20th, was the worst recorded in ‌Europe, where the climate is ​changing faster than the global average.

Extreme heat eases in France

The heatwave has been ⁠moving ​east. But while France’s weather agency said the extreme heat had diminished in most parts of the country, some areas in the northeast were still under a heatwave advisory.

Health Minister Stephanie Rist told La Tribune newspaper that the impact of the heatwave ‌could linger for ⁠as long as 10 days after the weather had ebbed.

“The episode is not finished,” she told ‌broadcaster BFM.

Most of the deaths involved people aged 65 and ​older, though the health effects of the extreme ​heat affected all categories of the population, Sante Publique said.