"We realised there was a problem." Gauthier Caton, who represents the fifth generation of the family to run the funeral parlour of the same name, remembers that 25 June perfectly. A week after the start of an intense heatwave across the country, his staff received "lots and lots of calls". In Orléans, where “normally we handle eight or ten cases a day, we went up to 25”, recalls the funeral director, whose branches are spread across Paris and the Centre and Loire region. “What alerted us were the circumstances of the deaths, which were very different from usual: of the 25 cases in question, at least 15 involved deaths at home.”
Three weeks later, the effects of the heatwave are still being felt. “We thought that by mid-July, the situation would be resolved,” notes Gauthier Caton. This Friday, 17 July, he is working hard to reduce the delays, which have lengthened considerably over the last few days. Even though temperatures are falling again, “it’s still taking 15 days, compared with the usual five or six,” he observes. “It will take a little while before everything is back to normal.”
That day, his colleague based in Gien (Loiret) informed him that all four mortuary bays were still full. Across the whole department, where the company has 46 places, only two remained available that day. “It’s Friday, and there won’t be any spaces free until Monday or Tuesday,” fears Gauthier Caton. “Someone who works in a care home said they were very worried because the elderly have been suffering from the heat for three weeks. A new wave of deaths is likely to follow.”
At the Arcueil crematorium, in the Parisian suburbs, “you have to wait at least twelve days for a funeral at the moment” explains Pritika Sambath, who has been working alongside Gauthier Caton since May. “We’re getting far more calls and requests for quotes for deaths at home. As we centralise requests from our regional branches here in Paris, everyone’s workload has quadrupled.”
"We’d planned to have the mobile units removed, but in the end that wasn’t possible," adds Gauthier Caton. Faced with a flood of requests, the company called in additional vehicles and refrigerated units to keep the bodies in good condition, whilst ensuring that the bereaved were none the wiser. “We’d never done anything like this before in our lives,” emphasises the company’s director. He also “bombarded” local councils and parishes with emails to ask them to start funeral services at 8.30 am (instead of the usual 10 am) and to adjust the opening hours of cemeteries. They agreed to do so.
Caton Funeral Directors, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, on 17 July 2026. FLORENCE MOREL / FRANCEINFO
In the Paris region, nearly 2,000 excess deaths were recorded by the French Health agency between 17 June and 2 July, according to figures released on Wednesday 22 July. This represents an increase of “81.2 per cent” between the expected number of deaths and the observed figure. The same trend was seen in the Centre and Loire region, where the health agency recorded a 62.6 per cent rise in these “excess” deaths over the same period, amounting to 1,327 deaths.
"We’d been through 2003, so we knew that, with no ongoing epidemic such as flu or Covid-19, this surge in activity was linked to the heatwave," explains Gauthier Caton. He began his career a month after the terrible heatwave that claimed around 15,000 lives in France – an unprecedented number for the country. Twenty-three years later, the entrepreneur did not think the situation could get any worse.
"In August 2003, we were short-staffed, which may have explained the heavy workload. What’s more, the families and neighbours of the deceased were absent, and the discovery of bodies in people’s homes was spread out over time," he recalls. "This year, it was shorter but much more intense. It’s an unprecedented situation. For three days, some of my teams finished at 5 o’clock and were back at work by 9 o’clock.”
Unlike in 2003, his teams had to attend the homes of people “of all ages”, some of whom “were not receiving medical care”. “Usually, we attend to people who are receiving hospital care at home, and are therefore in a very fragile state of health,” he explains. “In this case, that wasn’t the case. There were many independent people aged between 70 and 75 who were not receiving medical care,” he adds.
These deaths are “particularly difficult to deal with”, adds Gauthier Caton, speaking with restraint. The bodies are sometimes discovered late and cannot be shown to the families. “We therefore try to make the ceremony more meaningful by including personal effects and small gestures”, he continues. Between Monday 22nd and Sunday 28th June, Santé publique France noted that the number of deaths at home had risen particularly sharply, with an increase of 91 per cent, representing 605 additional deaths. “This highlights the ‘importance’ of loneliness in such situations,” emphasised the Minister for Health, Stéphanie Rist.
An article written by Florence Morel (France Télévisions), initially published on 23 July 2026, 05:59 (CEST)