Europe heatwave kills over 10,000, experts link to climate change

European health monitors reported more than 10,000 excess deaths during extreme heat waves that swept western Europe in late May and June. The majority of fatalities – over 9,000 – were among people aged 65 and older, according to EuroMOMO data supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization.

Record temperatures were observed in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Spain, with the UK experiencing two unprecedented heat spikes that set monthly highs of 35.1 °C in May and 37.7 °C in June. A study by experts from Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated roughly 550 deaths in the UK during the late‑May heat wave and about 2,200 during the late‑June period, bringing the total UK and Wales toll to around 2,700. Researchers emphasized that climate change amplified the intensity and frequency of these heat events, noting daytime highs were 3–4 °C higher than they would have been without global warming.