Paris city hall has announced that from Wednesday 17 June, a 100-metre section of the Canal Saint-Martin will be open for swimming under lifeguard supervision, as France braces for its second heatwave of the year. Temperatures in the capital are forecast to reach 40°C on Sunday 21 and Monday 22 June, according to Météo-France forecaster Christelle Robert, who warned that a heatwave will gradually take hold across the country this week.
Deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said the decision was taken after an assessment of the previous heatwave in May, which smashed records across half of France. During that episode, city authorities spent considerable effort preventing people from swimming in the canal despite the extreme heat. “That way of thinking was really absurd,” Grégoire said in a video posted on his social media accounts. “Rather than spending energy pulling them out of the water, I preferred to work on allowing them to swim safely.”
From Ban to Permission
The city had already planned to open the canal for swimming every Wednesday and Sunday from 6 July to 7 September. Now, the swimming area will also be accessible “throughout any heatwave,” Grégoire confirmed. The shift in policy reflects a broader effort to adapt Paris to rising temperatures, as climate change makes such extreme events more frequent. Alexandra Cordebard, mayor of the 10th arrondissement where the canal is located, described the early opening as “a new way of tackling climate change and adapting the city.”
During a press briefing, Grégoire explained that over the past month the city has mobilised resources to reverse the logic from banning swimming to allowing it under controlled conditions. After the controversy over unauthorised swimming in May, Cordebard stressed that “it was our responsibility to make sure those swimmers were safe.”
Strict Safety Rules Remain
Despite the more permissive approach, strict rules apply. Swimming is only permitted in the designated 100-metre stretch, and jumping from footbridges is strictly forbidden. Water quality, tested and monitored by the regional health agency, remains the key condition for opening the basin. Later this summer, swimmers will also be able to cool off at designated spots along the Seine, which was reopened for bathing last year for the first time in a century. Paris has invested over one billion euros to clean the river for use during the 2024 Olympic Games.
The early opening of the Canal Saint-Martin comes as France and much of Europe face increasingly frequent heatwaves. Météo-France notes that of the 51 heatwaves recorded nationwide since 1947, 34 have occurred since 2000 and 26 since 2011. The United Nations has warned that global average temperatures are likely to remain at record or near-record levels this year and over the following four years.
For those seeking relief from the heat, the canal offers a local alternative to the city’s public pools and fountains. As the climate continues to warm, such adaptive measures may become more common across European cities. For a broader perspective on water quality across the continent, see our analysis of Europe's cleanest swimming waters, where Cyprus leads but inland sites lag behind.
The decision also echoes other recent adaptations to extreme weather in France, such as the proposal to hold morning baccalaureate exams during heatwaves, as reported in France Proposes Morning Baccalaureate Exams as Heatwaves Intensify. As Paris prepares for the Olympics, the city’s ability to manage heatwaves will be closely watched.
