Europe recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during the late June heatwave
The WHO warned that another severe heatwave is expected across southern Europe
Scientists said the record-breaking heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change
Authorities have urged stronger heat-health preparedness as Europe continues to face increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather
European countries recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave that engulfed western Europe in late June, according to official data by EuroMOMO, a network backed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The vast majority of around 9,000 of them were among people aged 65 and above. Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people among the most vulnerable. "To have this kind of excess at this time of year is unusual. It's really high," Lasse Vestergaard, Chief Physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters. "It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat," Vestergaard added.
The data, pooled from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, included excess deaths from all causes during the week of June 22 to 28, when the heatwave peaked in France, Spain, Britain and other countries. Scientists said there were no other known major factors, such as COVID-19 outbreaks, that would have contributed to the spike of 10,650 excess deaths in that week. The same European countries' combined mortality over the previous eight weeks was, on average, around 500 deaths per week below typical levels.
WHO Warns Of More Deadly Weeks Ahead
The WHO warned that more deadly heatwaves could lie ahead for the European Region. "The next heatwave is already building over the Mediterranean, with forecasts predicting temperatures well above 40°C across Spain, southern France and Italy for the second week of July," said Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. "Southern Europe is now bracing for another heat surge."
Kluge said countries must strengthen their heat-health action plans to prevent thousands of needless deaths. "We must match the temperature rise with a commensurate rise in vigilance and preparedness," he said.
Record-Breaking Heat Across Europe
June 2026 was the hottest June recorded for western Europe and the second warmest globally, driven by the highest sea surface temperatures on record for the month, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Western Europe recorded an average temperature of 20.74°C, 3.05°C above the 1991–2020 average for June, surpassing the previous record set in June 2025.
The heatwave broke monthly and all-time temperature records across several European countries. Germany broke new temperature records for three consecutive days, with the town of Coschen reporting 41.7°C on June 28, and 252 weather stations recorded all-time temperature records. The United Kingdom broke the June temperature record for three consecutive days, with 37.3°C recorded in southern England on June 25. Spain recorded its hottest June days on record on June 23 and 24, with the city of Bilbao reaching 42.7°C.
Climate Change Attribution
Scientists have said the late-June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which is making heatwaves more frequent and intense. A separate scientific study, published on July 12, estimated 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales alone during the May and June heatwaves. Of those deaths, 42 per cent were caused by the extra heat that global warming contributed to the heatwaves, according to the findings by Imperial College London, the UK Met Office and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
The European State of the Climate 2025 report, produced jointly by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and WMO, noted that at least 95 per cent of Europe experienced above-average annual temperatures in 2025. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, with glaciers in all regions seeing net mass loss and record marine heatwaves affecting 86 per cent of Europe's ocean region.
