Key Points 

• The Pays de la Loire region experienced a heat wave, with at least one department under an orange alert between June 19 and 27, and all five of its departments under a red alert from June 21 to 25, 2026.
• A regional analysis of emergency care utilization revealed: 
  • a marked increase in emergency room visits for heat-related conditions,
  • a marked increase in hospitalizations following visits to the emergency room for heatwave-related conditions,
  • a marked increase in calls to SOS Médecins for heat-related conditions.
• Furthermore, the number of emergency room visits for “all causes combined” also increased, suggesting a health impact linked to diagnoses other than those directly related to the heat.
• The region’s two university hospitals, Angers and Nantes, have activated their emergency response plans.