European countries reported over 10,000 additional deaths during the record heatwave that swept across the western part of the continent in late June, according to official data, UNN writes citing Reuters.
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The vast majority — over 9,000 — were among people aged 65 and older, according to data published by EuroMOMO, a network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization.
Extreme heat can lead to death by causing heatstroke or exacerbating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with the elderly being among the most vulnerable.
"Such an excess at this time of year is unusual. It is really high," Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, where EuroMOMO is based, told Reuters.
"It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything other than extreme heat," Vestergaard added.
Scientists said the late June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-induced climate change, which makes heatwaves more frequent and intense.
Climate change fuels extreme heat in Europe - scientists26.06.26, 10:50
Mortality data from 27 European countries included excess deaths from all causes, not just heat-related ones, during the week of June 22-28, when the heatwave peaked in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and other countries.
But scientists said there are no other known underlying factors, such as COVID-19 outbreaks, that could have contributed to the rise of up to 10,650 additional deaths that week.
The cumulative mortality in the same European countries over the previous eight weeks was on average about 500 deaths per week below the typical level. EuroMOMO data may be revised in the coming weeks as more data becomes available.
The extreme heatwave in late June led to power outages, school closures, and the breaking of temperature records in France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
EuroMOMO does not publish excess mortality data by individual country but notes that France and Belgium were the only two countries in Europe where "very high levels of excess mortality" were recorded in the last week of June.
According to the national health institute Sciensano, excess mortality in Belgium was the highest during any heatwave on record since 2000.
In a separate scientific study published on Monday, it was estimated that 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales alone during the May and June heatwaves.
Heatwaves may have caused over 2,700 deaths in England and Wales – study13.07.26, 04:37