Paris police officials have brought in a ban on street drinking to try and curb the number of people suffering heat-related health conditions amid the city’s 40 degree heatwave
Police chiefs have banned drinking in the streets of Paris as France ramps up emergency measures after being gripped by a deadly heatwave. Highs of 40C have been recorded and at least 48 people have drowned trying to cool off in water across the country.
Officials hope the crackdown will ease the burden on the city’s overwhelmed emergency services in the city, with the city’s medical chief warning that “the corridors are full” in hospitals.
The city’s pride march – which draws hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets – has been postponed after police deemed it a major health risk. It will instead be heled in September.
Officials say ambulance services are responding to twice as many callouts each day compared to the average at this time of year, with many of the 2,500 emergency responses being related to dehydration and other heat-related health problems
There has also been a surge in the number of cardiac arrests reported in the city. Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure said: “We are reaching a saturation point in hospital facilities. The number of hospitalisations keeps increasing.
“As you know, drinking alcohol with the sun beating down can have a devastating effect. I must ensure that the pressure decreases.”
The booze ban began on Friday at noon and is set to run until 7am on Sunday (June 28), with a slight pause in the prohibition on Saturday morning.
The street-drinking ban comes into force before France play Norway in the World Cup, with supporters expected to gather at fan parks to watch the game.
Outdoor bars and restaurants are not impacted by the ban, which is intended to stop people buying beer, wine and spirits from shops and drinking them in the street and beside the city’s canals and the Seine.
Full statistics on heatwave-related fatalities are not yet available, but the mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, said deaths in the city will have certainly risen.
It comes after a ban on drinking alcohol in the street was put in place weekend during the Fête de la Musique, a nationwide street party, but the cleanup operation in Paris after the festival collected piles of beer cans and wine bottles.
Temperatures in Paris hit a June record of 40.9C on Wednesday and pushed close to 40C on Thursday. Higher temperatures are predicted in some areas on Friday as the “heat dome” continues to punish Europe.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.