Increase in drownings in France, a public health problem reinforced by high temperatures

On the seashores, lakeshores, and riverbanks, the summer of 2025 is particularly deadly. Between June ¹ and July 23, some 702 accidental drownings were treated by emergency services in France, a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to a bulletin from Public Health France published on August ^1. More than a quarter of these, or 193, caused the death of the victims. This figure, still provisional, is 45% higher than in 2024. "This is a significant increase, all the more remarkable given that half of the period studied falls outside school holidays," comments Aymeric Ung, epidemiologist at Public Health France.

According to health authorities, the cause: the intense heat recorded between mid-June and the beginning of July, which massively drove people to water points to cool off. During the sixteen days of heatwave alert at the beginning of summer, water accidents jumped by 142%. After a late July with contrasting weather, authorities fear that the toll will rise further. Summer is barely entering its second half, and the heat that has settled in the south of France will intensify and then spread to a large part of the country starting Thursday, August 7.

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