June Heatwave: More Than 10,000 Lives Lost in Europe

European countries reported over 10,000 extra deaths during the severe heatwave that hit the western part of the continent in June.

Official figures showed that most of the deaths were among people aged 65 and older.

Data from EuroMOMO, a network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, revealed that over 9,000 elderly people died during this period.

EuroMOMO stated that extreme heat can cause death through heat stroke or worsen heart and breathing issues, especially in older adults.

Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut, which manages EuroMOMO, said, "To have this kind of excess at this time of year is unusual. It's really high."

Vestergaard added, "It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat."

Scientists noted that the heatwave at the end of June would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change caused by human activities, which is increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves.

The data, gathered from national mortality records in 27 European countries, included all excess deaths, not just those related to heat, during the week of June 22 to 28, when the heat peaked in France, Spain, Britain, and other places.

However, scientists mentioned that there were no other significant factors, like COVID-19 outbreaks, that could explain the rise to 10,650 excess deaths that week.

In the eight weeks before this, the average mortality in these European countries was about 500 deaths per week lower than usual. The EuroMOMO data may change in the coming weeks as more information is collected.

The severe heatwave at the end of June caused power outages, closed schools, and broke temperature records in France, Spain, and the UK.

EuroMOMO does not provide excess deaths for each country, but it pointed out that France and Belgium were the only two countries in Europe that recorded "very high excess" deaths in the last week of June.

Belgium's excess mortality was the highest during any heatwave since records began in 2000, according to the country's public health institute Sciensano.

Another scientific study, published on Monday, estimated that 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the heatwaves in May and June.

This research by Imperial College London, the UK Met Office, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that 42 percent of those deaths were due to the additional heat caused by global warming.