The heat waves that struck large parts of Europe this summer claimed the lives of thousands of people, according to preliminary estimates in a number of countries, while large areas of the continent witnessed record temperatures and recurring heat waves.
In Germany, the latest estimates indicate that about 14,000 people have died due to heat since the beginning of the hot season this year, according to the Robert Koch Institute (German Health Authority), a toll that exceeds the record recorded in 2018, when heat-related deaths were estimated at about 8,900 cases.
According to the weekly report issued by the Robert Koch Institute, 9,600 of the most recent deaths were recorded during the week of June 22 to 28, as temperatures exceeded 41 degrees in some areas.
In Spain, heat-related deaths were estimated at 4,500 between June 1 and August 19, according to data from the Carlos III Health Institute.
In comparison, the number of deaths attributed to heat during the same period of the year reached 3,073 last year, and 1,890 deaths in 2024, while the death toll was recorded around 2022, with the number of deaths estimated at about 4,520 at that time.
France recorded 1,243 deaths during the second heat wave this summer between July 3 and 22, bringing the number of deaths attributed to extreme heat this year to 7,300, according to what the National Public Health Agency announced.
This jump in the death rate, which cannot yet be definitively linked to the heat wave, adds to an additional 5,764 deaths between June 17 and 30, and 300 deaths between May 24 and 28, according to the agency.
These numbers do not mean that heat was the direct cause of every death, as the concept of “excess deaths” includes all causes of death during the period, but health authorities consider heat to be a major factor behind the recorded increase, while methods for calculating deaths differ from one country to another.
Temperatures reached 42.5 degrees Celsius in the city of Bordeaux, and 40.1 degrees in the capital, Paris, while temperatures exceeded 43 degrees in other regions.
The heat wave in June, which came “early” and was “unprecedented in duration” (16 days), was considered more severe than the one that France experienced in August 2003. It resulted in the death of 15,000 people and affected all French people, causing a major shock throughout the country.
In England and Wales, researchers from the Met Office, Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine concluded that the country's two heatwaves in May and June were associated with about 2,700 deaths.
The study indicates that the number of deaths reached 550 during the heat wave in May, and 2,200 during the heat wave in June. The researchers also estimated that about 42 percent of these deaths were linked to additional temperature increases caused by human-induced climate change.
The high temperatures this summer were not limited to one country or one wave. Europe has witnessed successive heat waves since late spring, and the month of June was particularly exceptional.
According to the European Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service, June 2026 was the hottest June on record in Western Europe, and the second hottest June in Europe as a whole since European temperature records began.
Europe relies on the “ERA 5” system, which is the fifth generation of global climate and atmospheric reanalysis, and covers the planet around the clock from 1940 to the present.
This system was developed by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts as part of the European Union Climate Change Service.
The average temperature in Western Europe during the same month reached 20.74 degrees Celsius, that is, 3.06 degrees higher than the average for the period between 1991 and 2020. Several European countries also witnessed record temperatures, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius recorded in different regions.
The high temperatures continued during the month of July. The average temperature in Western Europe during the months of June and July together was the highest ever recorded, exceeding the normal rate by about 2.79 degrees Celsius.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from burning coal, oil and gas, have caused the planet's average temperature to rise about 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the 19th century.
Most countries do not record heat-related deaths as a direct cause of death.
Extreme heat can exacerbate heart, lung, and kidney disease, or increase the risk of dehydration and heat stroke, which may ultimately lead to the death of people who already suffer from other diseases or health conditions.
For this reason, researchers use statistical models that compare the actual number of deaths during a heat wave with the expected number of deaths under normal conditions.
Different calculation methods lead to different numbers between countries. In France, for example, authorities distinguish between “excess deaths” and deaths that can be attributed specifically to heat exposure, while the Robert Koch Institute in Germany uses a model to estimate heat-related deaths.
Therefore, the numbers for Germany, Spain, France and Britain cannot simply be added up to arrive at a single European tally.
Data from the European Death Monitoring Network "Euromomo" had previously estimated that the heat wave between June 22 and 28 was associated with about 10,650 additional deaths in Europe than expected, more than 9,000 of which were among people over the age of 65 years. The network estimated that more than 14,000 excess deaths occurred within two weeks of the peak temperatures.
But what Europe witnessed this summer adds a new chapter to a series of heat waves that have become more frequent and intense, and raises a very important question about how to protect the population from an increasing heat threat that no longer seems to be an exceptional event.
