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At least 40 people drown in France as 43C heatwave sweeps across country
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2026
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40C is 104F, which on its own doesn’t feel that hot to me. It must be humid too I’m guessing.
Lol,, 40°C is insanely hot for humans. Everything over 30 is super hot, over 35 is dangerous.
Add humidity to that and expect people to die from the heat alone.
It really depends on what you're acclimated to. I lived on a farm throughout high school, so I got to build fence lines and pock crops all day long in triple digits (F) with over 90% humidity (my region is technically a rainforest).
But I was used to the weather; I grew up in it. I'm definitely not going to criticize anyone who hasn't had to deal with it on a regular basis, especially when no one has AC.
You're simply wrong about your own experience there.
At 90% humidity and 100 F the heat index is 176 F which is astronomical.
A heat index at 125 F is lethal to any human being eventually..at 176 F you're dead in 15 minutes.
Either the temperature was lower, the humidity was lower.
Lots of people take the temperature high point they see and the humidity high point they see on the weather forecast and assume they happen at the same time. That's generally not the case.
So people say "it was 100 degrees and 90% humidity",, when actually it was only 50% humidity at the hottest part of the day and something like 80 degrees when humidity was 90% in the evening.
Everyone's guilty of this. They've experienced a really hot and humid day, they then tell the story with the 2 highest numbers because it felt really hot.
It's an accidental embellishment and ultimately leads some people to die of heat stroke as "they've worked through worse" in their own mind when the warnings come in with numbers they think they've experienced before but haven't in reality.
Above 100F is where it's considered critical, where the body can no longer dissipate heat through the environment.
Won't this be related to the humidity/wet bulb temp?
That, but ultimately it's about time. Like how 100C water gives you a burn instantly, but so does 40C, if you sit in it for 8 hours.
If your body can't cool itself, you will eventually overheat and die. And the limit for a certain death (eventually) is 35C (95F) wet bulb - at that point even a perfectly healthy person at rest produces enough heat to bring their core temp to over 43C and die.
Acclimation plays a huge role in it.
Bro I worked farms in Nebraska in the summer, you’re mistaking health and youth for acclimation
Not at that point.
43C is 109F, which is what the headline says.
Ah was reading the body of the post, which says “around 40C.” 109 sucks but it’s still bearable if it’s not humid. Humidity with that temp is what makes it a killer.
Europe is humid, it's not a desert yet. It's not like Arizona with dry heat or whatever you are imagining.
What you're saying is true, but only under specific circumstances. If you're conditioned for it and you take precautions, if this is your daily, it's doable. 109 with very low humidity, a nice breeze, in the shade, with dessert clothing, and a healthy supply of clean water, is ez if you are used to it and know what to do.
If you aren't used to it, or don't know what to do, or it's 40% humidity, or there is no shade and you're letting the sun hit your skin, etc, will easily kill you. This is France my man. Not wherever you're from. These temps, just hitting the normal vegetation will ensure the humidity is unbearable. Much less everything else.
Oh.. 40% is where it starts getting dangerous already? I assumed that's low humidity.
humidity in france is normally between 65% and 95%
Tbh with you I think it's lower than that when the temps are over 100, much less over 110. However, I don't know the exact number. I think it depends on other factors. In a situation where we're talking about regular folks having to do several specific things to survive, humidity easily breaks our little scenario.
I can tell you that I'm from the swamp. I can do up to around 103 with humidity over 70% but the cone for survival begins to narrow dramatically above 95. In the desert with humidity at 14%, I was completely fine at 110 even in the sun for periods of time. Like, I thought it was in the high 80s.
But, I can sweat gallons as long as I have water. That's what my body is conditioned to do. In the actual, ancient desert, without constant access to water, I'm dead. I assume most people can't just sweat two gallons a day, drink two gallons and eat some spicy food, and be ok tomorrow again. I also assume actual desert natives handle 110 different than me too, in a more desert sustainable way.
If we're talking about bare survival of a healthy or generationally conditioned person, able to do the right things, with access to everything they need, I think you're right 40% doesn't break things, but I assume none of those things apply in France.
It’s relative, Europe live in buildings meant to keep the heat in made of brick or concrete where as where you live probably has bungalows made of timber suited to the climate in your area
Brick really retains heat I hear. I don't doubt concrete and stone can as well.
The AC situation in Europe is a little rough. I stayed in Paris in a niceish hotel and the AC could not keep up with the heat when I was there. It was maybe a 10 degree difference inside vs out, and the humidity did not drop much. This was 10 years ago so maybe more places have better ac now, but I don't think every place had AC then.
A 10 degree difference might not feel cold and comfy but it is absolutely life saving.
Depends on the country and the region within. The further you move south, the more ACs you'll see. Up until recently, there wasn't a reason for countries north of italy to have AC everywhere.
Ya we had to do that here in Maine about 10 years ago.