Extreme heat breaks records in Europe, nearly 1,000 additional deaths in France
Kyiv • UNN
Last week, at the peak of the heatwave in France, at least 1,000 additional deaths were recorded. The WHO warned that Europe is heating up twice as fast as the global average.
In France last week, at the peak of record heat, about 1,000 additional deaths were registered, the country's health agency reported on Sunday, as the head of the World Health Organization warned that Europe is now the fastest-warming continent and needs to do more to protect its citizens, UNN writes, citing AP.
Details
Over the weekend, temperature records were broken in several countries, wildfires broke out in Germany, and Berlin police used water cannons to cool down crowds.
Meanwhile, the heat slowly moved toward the eastern parts of the continent.
Germany set a new record for the third consecutive day – 41.7 degrees Celsius in Neißemünde, near the border with Poland, where the temperature surpassed the new historical maximum of 40.5°C. The Czech Republic also experienced its hottest day on record – 41.9°C, higher than the previous record of 40.9°C set on Saturday.
A new study by the European scientific community World Weather Attribution reported on Friday that the record heat and humidity in Europe last week would have been impossible without climate change.
Climate change fuels extreme heat in Europe - scientists26.06.26, 10:50 • 3881 view
The rapid study showed that the heat would have been practically impossible just five decades ago, and today it is 200 times more likely than 20 years ago.
France records spike in mortality during heatwave
Last week, France reported a spike in mortality, including a sharp increase in deaths in private homes, especially in the Paris region, the national health agency said on Sunday.
On Wednesday, when France was exhausted by the hottest temperatures, more than 1,200 deaths were recorded, and the number of deaths on each of the following two days rose to over 1,400, the French Public Health Agency reported. In April and May, before the heatwave began, the mortality rate in France was about 900-1,000 people per day.
The agency concluded that in just these three days, at least 1,000 additional deaths were recorded in France, and according to its data, this estimate is likely to increase as more data is collected, including on deaths at home.
According to its data, the sharpest increase was observed in areas where a red level extreme heat warning was in effect. These warnings covered about three-quarters of the country at the peak of the heat. The agency said that 85% of the deaths were people aged 65 and older.
WHO warns Europe is the fastest-warming continent
"Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating up twice as fast as the global average," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday on X, adding: "Now 150 million people are living in extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are closed, networks are failing."
According to him, driven by climate change and global warming, a once-in-a-generation heatwave is now occurring almost every year, and he added that since June 21, more than 1,300 additional deaths related to high temperatures have been recorded in Europe.
"Heat stress is often called the 'silent killer,' and European homes, workplaces, and schools were not built for these temperatures," he warned, calling on European countries to implement action plans. He said they should focus on preparedness, prevention, and a stronger health system response.
Lightning strikes Swedish theme park
In Sweden, several people were injured when they were struck by lightning at an amusement park, the national news agency TT reports.
Three adults, including a woman with serious injuries, were taken to hospital after lightning struck the Tosseillya Sommarland park in Tomelilla in the south of the country.
Across Europe, the extreme heat was followed by severe thunderstorms.
Denmark, which set new temperature records on Saturday, recorded 1,156 lightning strikes by Sunday morning, public broadcaster DR reports.
Heat causes wildfires in forests contaminated with World War II munitions
In Görishheide, eastern Germany, a fire broke out in a large forest that is still contaminated with World War II munitions, complicating the work of firefighters.
Similarly, a large-scale firefighting operation was underway in southwestern Germany near the village of Traisen, where heat caused a forest fire in an area that also contained unexploded ordnance. Firefighters had to temporarily suspend work after explosions, and an ordnance disposal unit was brought in to continuously assess the situation, the German news agency dpa reports. About 650 people in Traisen were forced to leave their homes on Sunday afternoon as the fire continued to spread.
Fire services in major cities were busy dispatching ambulances to people suffering from heat-related conditions. In Berlin, an additional 500 ambulance calls were reported on Saturday, most of them heat-related.
Berlin police use water cannons to cool down locals and tourists
The police of the German capital found a way to help both suffering Berliners and tourists. They set up two huge water cannons, usually used to disperse unruly protesters, in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate and sprayed cool water on the welcoming crowd.
The heat also worsened the situation with infrastructure damage, causing concrete pavement on numerous highways to crumble, and the national railway operator Deutsche Bahn issued a warning over the weekend to avoid all unnecessary train travel.
More than 600 passengers had to be evacuated from an overheated train in Brandenburg after a tree fell on an overhead power line during a storm on Saturday evening. The train, traveling from Hamburg to Prague, lost power. The air conditioning stopped working, and the doors were locked until rescuers forced them open. Two people were hospitalized with heat-related problems, dpa reports.
In the eastern city of Leipzig, trams were not to run until the early hours of Monday due to heat damage to tracks and switches. Leipzig's public transport authority said high temperatures caused the sealant for asphalt and concrete joints on switches and tracks to melt and stick together in many places across the city's network.