French public health authorities announced on Wednesday that at least 7,300 excess deaths have been recorded during heat wave periods so far this summer, with the toll expected to rise further. The figure spans three separate heat events since late May — including 5,764 deaths between 17 and 30 June and 1,243 between 3 and 22 July — and does not yet fully account for a third wave that began on 28 July, now confirmed as the second-longest heat wave ever recorded in France. The death toll, which falls disproportionately on people aged 75 and over, has reignited a political dispute over government preparedness, with a final official count due in October; the summer of 2003, France's deadliest heat event on record, killed approximately 15,000 people.