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June heat spike
A week of extreme heat in Europe in June produced a historic increase in deaths, with the European Mortality Monitoring Network stating that about 16,000 more people died than usual.
“About 16,000 more people died compared to the usual numbers in Europe because of the heatwave”
The New York Times said that once temperatures topped 100 degrees across much of the continent, deaths spiked only in northwest Europe, where countries were less prepared for the heat.
The New York Times also said that deaths caused by extreme temperatures are difficult to measure directly, so researchers look at excess deaths, the number of deaths from any cause above what would be expected at that time of year based on historic trends.
The Times of India reported that temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit across large parts of Spain and Italy in late June, while the sharpest increase in deaths was recorded in north-western Europe.
The New York Times added that major deadly heat waves are rare in recent European history, noting one hit in 2003, killing tens of thousands.
Forecasts and warnings
The NDTV report said the United Kingdom's Met Office warned that the summer's fifth hot spell was about to take hold, with temperatures reaching the mid-30s Celsius in places.
NDTV quoted the Met Office saying, "Yet another spell of extremely hot weather is set to spread north across much of the UK with temperatures reaching the mid-30s Celsius in places," it said on X on Sunday.
In France, NDTV said Meteo-France warned on Monday that the southeast would see temperatures as high as 35C, and that "The intense heat will affect almost the entire country between Wednesday and Friday," in a bulletin.
The Times of India reported that Europe continued to face another round of extreme heat in August, and said Brussels recorded its hottest day on record on August 14, reaching 35.9C.
NDTV also said scientists have warned that climate change has more in store, with much of Europe bracing for yet another heatwave following periods of scorching temperatures that drove rivers to record lows.
Heat-related death tolls
Separate official tallies showed heat waves claiming large numbers of lives in Germany, Spain, and France, with Al-Jazeera Net saying Germany recorded around 14,000 deaths due to heat waves during the current summer.
“In Germany, around 14,000 people died due to heat waves during the current summer”
Al-Jazeera Net reported that Spain had about 4,500 deaths between June 1 and August 19, and said France had more than 7,300 deaths after the Public Health Agency announced 1,243 additional deaths during the second heatwave from July 3 to 22.
France 24 said Germany had about 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer, beating the 2018 record of 8,900, and said 9,600 of the 14,000 deaths occurred during the week of June 22–28.
France 24 also explained that heat cannot be listed as the cause of death on death certificates and thus does not appear in cause-of-death statistics, so the scale is modeled using statistical methods comparing deaths during summer weeks with and without heat waves.
Al-Jazeera Net said the heat-related death estimates rely on statistical models because temperature is not usually listed as a direct cause of death on death certificates, and it described heat as exacerbating preexisting illnesses such as cardiovascular, respiratory, and kidney diseases.
