Key points

• According to Météo France, in mainland France, the summer of 2022 ranks as the second-hottest summer recorded in France since the beginning of the 20th century. The 2022 summer monitoring period was marked by three heatwave episodes, two of which placed departments along the Atlantic coast on red alert, and two successive episodes lasting about a dozen days in the Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Furthermore, this summer was also marked by other extreme weather phenomena such as drought, wildfires, thunderstorms, and a heatwave in the Mediterranean Sea. Regarding health monitoring, key figures include:

  • An estimated 2,816 excess deaths (+17%) occurred during heatwave periods in departments where biometeorological alert thresholds were exceeded. People aged 75 and older accounted for the vast majority of these excess deaths, associated with a high relative excess mortality rate of +20.2% (1 in 6 excess deaths).

  • 2,060 emergency room visits and 680 SOS Médecins consultations for hyperthermia, dehydration, and hyponatremia (iCanicule indicator) were observed in the departments affected by exceedances of biometeorological alert thresholds this summer.

• In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the three heat waves resulted in three periods of extreme heat, the first observed in June, the second in July, and the third in August 2022. During these heat waves, exceedances of biometeorological alert thresholds were observed in five departments during the first two episodes (21, 25, 39, 71, 90). Unlike in the summer of 2019, no department in the region was subject to a red alert. However, a significant impact on health was observed during these periods:

  • an estimated 111 excess deaths were recorded, representing a relative excess mortality rate of +13% during the periods when biometeorological alert thresholds were exceeded in the affected departments. Of these excess deaths, 24 occurred during the first heatwave, 77 during the second, and 10 during the third (the majority of whom were aged 75 and older) Emergency care visits for the iCanicule indicator accounted for up to 0.8% of emergency room visits (375 visits) and 1.3% of SOS Médecins calls (93 calls) across all periods studied. All age groups were affected by these visits, with those aged 75 and older accounting for 51.5% of visits and 10% of procedures. The hospitalization rate following an emergency department visit for the iCanicule indicator during these episodes was 67% across all age groups and 79% among those aged 75 and older. Three-quarters of emergency department visits and SOS Médecins procedures occurred outside of these episodes.