Twenty years after deadly 2003 heatwave, what has France learned?

A man walks past a fountain in Lyon, France, on 16 July 2015, during a heatwave in which temperatures hit nearly 40 degrees C. Periods of extreme heat have become more and more common in France since its deadliest summer on record in 2003. © AFP PHOTO / Philippe Desmazes

August 2003 saw nearly 15,000 people in France die from heat, more than any summer before or since. Twenty years on, the country is better prepared – but temperatures are rising. RFI looks at what the 2003 disaster can teach France about protecting the vulnerable from heatwaves.

June 2003 was hot. July 2003 was hotter. August 2003 was fatal.