When Météo-France puts Paris on heatwave alert, the right reflexes are no longer about comfort — they are about health. A canicule is not just unpleasant: Santé publique France documents excess deaths and a spike in emergency-room visits every summer during extreme heat. The right habits are simple, free, and make a real difference. Here is what matters, taken from the official recommendations published by Santé.fr and Santé publique France — nothing invented.
What should you do during a heatwave in Paris?
The essentials come down to four habits, all recommended by Santé.fr: drink water regularly without waiting to feel thirsty, wet your body several times a day, spend the hottest hours somewhere cool, and avoid any intense physical effort between noon and 6 pm. In detail:
- Drink water regularly, without waiting to feel thirsty. This is the health authorities' number-one recommendation. Keep a bottle within reach — in Paris, the public fountains let you refill it for free.
- Wet your body several times a day, at least your face and forearms: a mist spray, a damp cloth, a room-temperature shower.
- Keep eating normally, even with less appetite, favouring water-rich food: fresh fruit, raw vegetables, cold soups.
- Spend the hottest hours somewhere cool: a library, cinema, pool or museum. Our cool-places map shows what is open around you.
- Keep your home cool: shutters and windows closed on the sunny side by day, everything open at night — the full method is in our guide Surviving without AC.
- Avoid intense physical effort between noon and 6 pm: jogging, hard cycling, moving house… push it to early morning or the evening.
Don't
- Alcohol. Santé.fr is categorical: it speeds up dehydration and dulls your alertness — that ice-cold beer on a terrace works against you.
- Very sugary or heavily caffeinated drinks: sodas, energy drinks, coffee after coffee — the health authorities recommend avoiding them in favour of water.
- Sport during the hot hours, even if you are well trained.
- Staying isolated and out of touch. The effects of heat get worse silently: stay in contact with the people around you.
Who is most at risk during a heatwave?
According to Santé.fr, those most at risk are people over 65 or losing autonomy, babies and children under 4, pregnant women, people working in the heat, and people on certain medications. They are the ones to call, visit and help first as soon as the alert comes in.
Two precise points of vigilance, from the same recommendations: in older people, both the perception of heat and the sensation of thirst fade with age — offer them something to drink at regular intervals, without waiting for them to ask. And for pregnant women, Santé.fr recommends drinking at least 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day.
One call or one visit a day can literally save a life: offer to do the shopping, check that the flat is still liveable and that the person is drinking enough. Many town halls — Paris included — keep a heatwave register and regularly call isolated people who sign up: ask at your local mairie.
Medication and heat: should you adjust your treatment?
Never on your own initiative. Santé.fr's rule is absolute: never stop, reduce or modify a treatment yourself — any adjustment is for your regular doctor to make, and when in doubt you consult your doctor or pharmacist. Some medications do, however, call for extra vigilance when it gets very hot.
Santé.fr notes that certain treatments can interfere with the body's ability to regulate its temperature, or worsen dehydration: diuretics, anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), aspirin, some blood-pressure drugs, neuroleptics, antidepressants, antiparkinsonian drugs and sleeping pills. If you — or someone you check on — take any of these, mention it to your doctor or pharmacist at the start of a heatwave, and pay double attention to hydration and to keeping the home cool.
How do you recognise heatstroke?
Heatstroke shows as a fever above 39°C with hot, red, dry skin, an intense headache, dizziness and nausea, sometimes confused speech, unusual behaviour or loss of consciousness. Faced with these signs, listed by Santé.fr, call 15 immediately (the French medical emergency line).
When in doubt, call: better a call for nothing than heatstroke treated too late.
The numbers to know
- Canicule info service: 0 800 06 66 66 — free hotline activated during heatwaves (9 am to 7 pm according to Santé.fr), with advice for protecting yourself and the people around you (service in French).
- 15: SAMU, medical emergencies.
- 18: fire brigade.
- 112: the European emergency number, from any phone.
- 114: by SMS, for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
What now?
Today's alert level, the felt temperature and the cool places open right now are on our page How hot is it right now?. And to see where Parisians actually go to cool off, head to our guide to the good spots.