France's Heat-Alert System Built for Yesterday's Climate

France's Plan Canicule, designed after the 2003 heatwave that killed 15,000 people, activates cooling centers and checks on vulnerable populations when heat warnings trigger. But early-season heatwaves now arrive months earlier and sustain longer than historical patterns. A June peak of 42°C following France's warmest spring on record suggests baseline conditions have shifted. Protocols calibrated to older frequency distributions may no longer match the distribution of extreme heat events.