More than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across European countries during the historic heatwave that struck western Europe at the end of June, according to official data. The extreme heat event disrupted energy supplies, forced schools to close, and shattered temperature records in France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Most Victims Were Elderly
The vast majority of those deaths—over 9,000—occurred among people aged 65 and older, according to figures released by EuroMOMO, a mortality monitoring network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Extreme heat poses life-threatening risks, including heatstroke and worsening of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. Older adults are especially vulnerable.
“It’s unusual to see so many excess deaths this early in the year. Honestly, the number is very high,” said Dr. Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut—the host institution for EuroMOMO, the European network tracking real-time mortality across 27 countries.
“It’s difficult to interpret this high excess mortality any other way than through the impact of extreme heat,” he added.
Climate Change Made the Heatwave Nearly Impossible to Avoid
Scientists say the late-June heatwave would have been “practically impossible” without human-caused climate change—which is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense.
The data, drawn from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, covers all-cause excess deaths—not just those directly linked to heat—during the week of 22–28 June, when temperatures peaked across France, Spain, the UK, and elsewhere.
Experts note there were no other major known factors—such as a surge in COVID-19 cases—that could plausibly explain the 10,650 extra deaths recorded that week. In fact, overall mortality across those same countries had been running about 500 deaths per week below normal levels for the previous eight weeks.
EuroMOMO data may be revised in the coming weeks as more information becomes available. While the network does not publish country-by-country excess death figures, it highlights that France and Belgium were the only two European countries to register a “very large excess” in mortality during the final week of June.
In Belgium, excess mortality reached its highest level on record since 2000, according to Sciensano, the country’s public health institute.
A separate scientific study published today estimates that 2,700 people died…