Key facts
- Over 50,000 heat-related deaths occurred in 850 European cities this summer.
- Climate change was responsible for approximately 32,000 of these deaths.
- This summer was the deadliest on record for heat-related mortality in Europe this century.
- Previous records were 29,000 deaths in 2022 and 28,000 in 2003.
- Around 6,000 deaths were among people under 65.
- Individuals aged 85 and over accounted for about half of the estimated deaths.
Extreme heat caused more than 50,000 deaths across 850 European cities this summer, with climate change responsible for two-thirds of the fatalities, according to two new peer-reviewed studies published in Nature Health. This marks the deadliest summer on record for heat-related mortality in Europe this century, surpassing previous records. Scientists from Imperial College and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine analyzed data from cities in the EU, UK, Norway, and Switzerland. They estimated heat-related excess deaths by comparing temperature records and historical models to a world without global warming. The studies found that while older adults were most affected, approximately 6,000 deaths occurred among individuals under 65.