Key Points

Between June 1 and August 31, 2017, a heat wave triggering the orange alert level specified in the Heat Wave Plan (PNC) affected the Centre-Val de Loire region from June 19 to 23, 2017 (week 25). The prefects of Indre (36), Indre-et-Loire (37), Loir-et-Cher (41), and Loiret (45) issued orange alerts for their respective departments. On June 23, all departments were placed under a green alert on Météo-France’s 6 a.m. map. This heat wave was characterized by:

• An atypical weather situation with a heatwave occurring earlier than in 2015, affecting all departments in the region,

• An observed number of deaths slightly higher than expected for the general population from all causes and among people aged 75 and older. A notable increase was observed in the 15–64 age group.

• An observed impact on morbidity through the use of heat-related emergency care (103 emergency room visits and 28 SOS Médecins consultations for heat-related conditions, affecting all age groups, were recorded during the heat wave). The number of heat-related diagnoses is known to increase proportionally with temperature and to have a minor impact on overall healthcare provision (in the range of a few percent).