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Europe's Late-June Heatwave Linked to Over 10,000 Excess Deaths, Data Shows
A record-breaking heatwave that swept across Western Europe in late June was linked to more than 10,000 excess deaths, according to official data from a multinational health surveillance network. The vast majority of these deaths, over 9,000, occurred among individuals aged 65 and older.
Mortality Spike Detailed
The data, compiled by EuroMOMO, a network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization, tracked excess mortality from all causes across 27 European countries. For the week of June 22 to 28, when the heatwave peaked in nations including France, Spain, and the UK, the network recorded 10,650 excess deaths.
Health experts note that extreme heat can be fatal by inducing heat stroke or by exacerbating pre-existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. "To have this kind of excess at this time of year is unusual. It’s really high," Lasse Vestergaard, Chief Physician at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters. He added that it was "difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat," as no other major factors, such as significant COVID-19 outbreaks, were identified during that period.
AdRegional Impact and Climate Context
While EuroMOMO does not release country-specific figures, it highlighted that France and Belgium were the only two nations to register "very high excess" mortality in the final week of June. Belgium's public health institute, Sciensano, reported that the country's excess mortality was the highest for any heatwave in records dating back to 2000.
Scientists have stated that the late-June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without the influence of human-caused climate change. Reinforcing this link, a separate study by Imperial College London and other institutions estimated that 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during May and June, with 42% of those deaths attributed to the additional heat contributed by global warming.