Europe recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during a severe, record-breaking late-June heatwave, highlighting the escalating public health threat of extreme weather. According to official data from the European health network EuroMOMO, more than 9,000 of these fatalities occurred among people aged 65 and older.
Extreme heat creates severe health risks by triggering heatstroke or aggravating existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions in vulnerable individuals. Lasse Vestergaard, a chief physician at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut, noted that such a high mortality rate at this time of year is highly unusual and directly stems from the extreme heat. Scientists warn that this late-June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which is making such events more frequent and intense.
The heatwave peaked between June 22 and 28, smashing temperature records, disrupting power supplies, and forcing school closures in France, Spain, and Britain. During this period, France and Belgium were the only European nations to log "very high excess" mortality, with Belgium experiencing its deadliest heatwave since 2000.
Furthermore, a separate scientific study estimated that 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the May and June heatwaves. Researchers found that 42% of these specific deaths were directly caused by the extra heat contributed by global warming. As extreme temperatures become the new normal, protecting elderly populations must remain a critical public safety priority.
