'Do your part!' Furious French blame US for deadly European heatwaves

A senior Paris official has blamed the United States in part for France's deadly heatwave.

Audrey Pulvar, the city's deputy mayor for international relations, has raged at Americans mocking France's limited air conditioning - and claimed their greenhouse gas emissions are to blame.

"Dear American journalists and social media 'influencers': for days, some of you have been criticising and making fun of Paris because the city does not have A/C in every room... OMG, this is so rich!" she blistered.

"As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing."

"So please, enough with the lecture. Just start doing your part. Best regards."

Amid the heat this week, Parisians trapped in sweltering, un-air-conditioned flats resorted to sleeping outdoors in public parks.

Green spaces like Buttes-Chaumont in the northeast became makeshift open-air dormitories.

Others booked air-conditioned hotel rooms just metres from their own homes - despite their deputy mayor's harsh words.

France has long held suspicious attitudes towards air conditioning.

The French often associate AC, or "la clim", with illness, due to a belief in the mysterious "thermal shock".

It is widely thought a sudden, drastic difference between hot outside air and cold indoor air shocks the body, causing colds, sore throats, or even a loss of consciousness.

Amid the heat, France is turning towards air conditioning, but it is difficult to install in historic buildings - and politically contentious.

A quarter of French households have an air-con unit - in Spain and Italy, that figure is 50 per cent, and in the US and Japan 90 per cent.

This week, right-wing firebrand Marine Le Pen called for a mass subsidised roll-out across the nation, while even France's traditionally-hostile Greens have conceded that some air conditioning may now be inevitable.

Public Health France released preliminary figures on Sunday showing 1,000 more deaths than in previous months since Wednesday's peak temperatures.

READ MORE FROM FRANCE:

• Eleven people killed in skydiving plane crash in France
• Passengers trapped on board train en route for SIX HOURS amid extreme heat warning
• France shuts down nuclear reactor over fears 46C heatwave could cause disaster

Many areas of France exceeded 40C that day.

Home deaths rose by 40 per cent during the same period.

Health minister Stephanie Rist cautioned that heat-related illness often appears well after temperatures drop.

"The extreme heat of the last few days is having a delayed effect, particularly on vulnerable people but also on some younger people, who sometimes turn up at A&E five to ten days after the heatwave," she told La Tribune on Sunday.

"For people with chronic conditions, this effect can last for several weeks," she added.

Hospitals will remain under pressure even as conditions improve, she warned.

Paris emergency services handled 3,400 calls in the 24 hours ending Friday, four times the normal volume.

They treated 30 cardiac arrests during that period.

A 12-year-old girl in Yvelines, west of the capital, died from heatstroke on Friday.

Paramedics managed to save her 15-year-old brother.

Across France, 74 people have drowned while seeking relief from the extreme temperatures.

One victim was a man who entered Paris's Canal Saint-Martin outside the designated swimming area.

"There's still time to knock on your neighbour's door if they're isolated," Ms Rist said Sunday.

"Everyone must take responsibility."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter