France’s 2026 grain-maize yield is forecast to fall to 6.3 tonnes per hectare (2.81 short tons per acre), its lowest level since 1991, after repeated heatwaves and persistent drought damaged crops. Agreste estimates production, including seed maize, at 7.3 million tonnes (8 million short tons), nearly half the 2025 level, as grain-maize area fell 28% and yield declined 27%.
A prolonged heatwave continued across France on Monday, July 13, with 37 departments under red heatwave vigilance and another 39 under orange vigilance. Exceptionally warm nights, increasingly dry soils and a nationwide wildfire danger are expected to persist as the highest temperatures shift toward central and eastern parts of the country.
France has recorded around 1 000 excess deaths since June 24, 2026 as an exceptional heatwave swept across the country, with 85% of the deaths involving people aged 65 and older, according to preliminary figures released by France’s Public Health Agency (SPF). The agency warned the data remain preliminary and are expected to increase as additional mortality reports are received.
At least 40 people have drowned in France since June 18, 2026, while seeking relief from an exceptional heatwave that has pushed temperatures to record levels across much of the country.
France recorded its hottest May day since records began on May 26, 2026, while temperatures climbed to 37.8 °C in southwestern parts of the country on May 28. Multiple stations across France set new all-time May temperature records this week as a prolonged heat dome pushed daytime temperatures into the upper 30s°C (upper 90s°F) and kept nighttime temperatures unusually high across much of the country.
Seven deaths were linked to exceptionally high temperatures in France after the country recorded its hottest May day since national observations began, with a national average temperature of 24.4°C (75.9°F) on May 25, 2026.
At least 52 all-time high temperature records were broken across France on August 11, 2025, with more than 175 weather stations exceeding 40°C (104°F), as a persistent heat dome intensified extreme heat across southwestern Europe.
Temperatures above 40 °C (104 °F) led to the closure of over 1 350 schools in France and work restrictions across 13 Italian regions between June 30 and July 2, 2025, as a persistent heat dome caused red-level alerts and severe public health risks across southern Europe.
Severe heatwave affecting much of Europe this weak brought record-breaking temperatures, including all-time high for France. Meteo France raised the hazardous weather warning to 'red, the highest level, for the Marseille and Montpellier areas in southeastern…
In the summer of 2003, France was coping with worst heatwave since 1950s, when measurements began. The relentless heat killed more than 15 000 people, mostly elderly residents of Paris. Since the 2003 disaster, France has fully integrated disaster risk reduction…
