So rocked were the French by the canicule that the plan passed with little protest.

ECONOMIST: A row over Pentecost further sours the French public's mood

In France, green awareness was boosted by a local warming in summer 2003 to which people still often refer as La canicule.

FORBES: Local Warming

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, France's centre-right prime minister, had originally decided to sacrifice this public holiday after the summer canicule (heatwave) in 2003, in which 15, 000 people died, many of them elderly.

ECONOMIST: A row over Pentecost further sours the French public's mood