France counts 5,764 excess deaths during June heat wave

France recorded 5,764 more deaths than expected during its brutal June heat wave, according to Public Health France, as record temperatures swept across the country and pushed hospitals, care homes and funeral services under pressure.

The public health agency said areas affected by the heat between June 17 and July 2 registered 21,674 deaths from all causes. Based on statistical modeling using previous years of data, those same regions would normally have been expected to record 15,910 deaths over that period.

Public Health France said the gap amounts to excess mortality of 36 percent, the highest recorded in the country for any heat wave since 2003. That earlier disaster is estimated to have caused 15,000 deaths in France.

France logged its hottest national days on June 24 and June 25, when the average temperature reached 86 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the report cited by CBS News. Nighttime temperatures also set records, while peak readings climbed above 104 degrees in many places.

Public Health France said just over half of the excess deaths happened during and immediately after the hottest stretch, from June 25 to June 27.

The agency described the episode as unprecedented because it arrived early, lasted for days and reached intense levels while schools and workplaces were still operating. It said nearly the entire population was exposed to extreme heat.

Paris region hit hardest

The Paris region recorded 1,999 excess deaths, Public Health France said, about 80 percent more than would have been expected without the heat wave.

Funeral directors in Paris said they had trouble finding space to store bodies before burial or cremation, according to CBS News. Some mortuaries said they were full and had to turn bodies away.

Public Health France said nearly half of the more than 21,600 deaths occurred in hospitals, where staff were dealing with surges of patients suffering heat-related illnesses. Around one-third of the deaths happened at home, with most of the rest in care homes for older people.

French authorities had earlier reported about 2,000 additional deaths from all causes for the week of June 22 to June 28, the peak of the heat wave in France. Public Health France said the latest estimate will be revised later this year when fuller data is available.

Officials and experts warn that heat deaths can be difficult to count quickly. A death certificate may list a heart attack, for example, even if extreme heat helped trigger it, especially in older people or those with existing health problems.

Europe’s deadly June

The French toll comes as data across Europe continues to show the scale of an unusually early and intense heat wave. CBS News reported that extreme temperatures across the continent produced well over 10,000 excess deaths during the worst of the heat.

The World Health Organization’s chief said near the end of June that Europe had reported more than 1,300 heat-related deaths in just over a week, many of them in France. French officials told CBS News at the time that they had recorded roughly 1,000 excess deaths linked to heat exposure, mostly among older residents.

France also recorded 40 drowning deaths in one week in June as people sought relief from the heat by swimming, according to CBS News.

Western Europe had its hottest June on record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Climate expert Samantha Burgess said in a statement that the findings showed how much the climate is changing and that rising temperatures reflect a climate system continuing to store heat.

This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.