BRUSSELS — Europe recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during an exceptionally early and intense heatwave that swept across western parts of the continent in late June, according to official mortality data, underscoring the growing public health risks posed by extreme temperatures.
The figures, published by EuroMOMO, a mortality monitoring network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, showed about 10,650 excess deaths during the week of June 22–28, when temperatures peaked across countries including France, Spain, Britain and Belgium. More than 9,000 of those deaths occurred among people aged 65 and older.
Excess mortality measures deaths above the number normally expected for a given period. Health experts said the timing and scale of the increase were unusual for late June and found no evidence that another major event, such as an infectious disease outbreak, could account for the spike.
"It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat," Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters.
Extreme heat can cause heatstroke directly while also worsening cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, particularly among older adults and people with underlying health conditions. Authorities across Europe issued heat warnings, opened cooling centers and urged residents to limit outdoor activity during the hottest days, but temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several regions and strained health services and infrastructure.
Separate research estimated that about 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the May and June heatwaves. Researchers from Imperial College London, the UK Met Office and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimated that roughly 42% of those deaths were linked to additional warming caused by human-induced climate change.
Scientists with the World Weather Attribution group said the late-June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events.
Although temperatures have eased in some areas, much of Europe continues to face wildfire danger, drought and periodic storms following the heatwave. The World Health Organization has urged governments to treat extreme heat as a major public health emergency and strengthen preparedness measures as climate-driven heat events become more frequent.
