Over 50,000 heat deaths in European cities this summer

Scientists estimate that over 50,000 people died prematurely because of high temperatures across 854 European cities between June and August this year, making it Europe's deadliest summer heat on record.

Almost two-thirds of those deaths are attributed specifically to climate change, primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

The number of people who died was almost double that of last year and more than 70% higher than the death tolls during the notorious European heatwaves of 2003 and 2022.

The research, published in two peer-reviewed papers in the journal Nature Health, was undertaken by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

It examined urban areas across 30 European countries, representing a combined population of almost 173 million people, or approximately 40% of the population of the EU27, the UK, Norway and Switzerland.

The researchers also estimate that 60 people died prematurely because of high temperatures in Irish cities during the three summer months, with approximately 35 of those deaths, or 60%, attributable specifically to human-induced climate change.

The Irish analysis covered an urban population of just over 1.5 million people, rather than the entire country.

Across Europe, the additional 32,619 deaths attributable specifically to climate change exceeded the entire heat-related mortality burden during either the summer of 2003 or 2022.

The study highlights that climate change is not just making European heatwaves hotter or more frequent.

It is already adding tens of thousands of premature deaths to the continent's annual mortality burden.

Dr Clair Barnes, an extreme weather and climate change researcher at Imperial College London, said the findings demonstrated the increasingly severe consequences of rising temperatures.

"These numbers are a stark reminder that our hotter, more extreme summers are having an increasingly severe impact on public health. Behind these statistics are real people whose lives were lost and real families who grieve for them."

Europe experienced a succession of extreme heatwaves during the summer, with western Europe recording temperatures averaging 2.9C above the 1991–2020 seasonal norm.

On individual days, temperatures in some countries exceeded their historical averages by as much as 12C.

Almost one-third of the estimated summer death toll occurred during a particularly intense heatwave between 17 June and 1 July, when average temperatures across the cities studied were 5.3C above normal.

Italy recorded the highest estimated national death toll, at 13,303, followed by France with 7,268, Spain with 6,824 and Germany with 6,340.

In the United Kingdom, an estimated 4,354 people died prematurely because of the heat, with 2,535 of those deaths attributable to human-induced climate change.

Although older people were particularly vulnerable, the researchers estimate that approximately 6,000 people under the age of 65 also died from the summer heat.

People aged 85 and over accounted for an estimated 22,502 deaths, or 45% of the total.

The study also found that the proportion of heat-related deaths attributable to climate change has increased substantially, from approximately 40% earlier this century to 65% during the summer of 2026.

Dr Pierre Masselot, Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the findings demonstrated that the threat was no longer confined to Europe's traditionally hotter regions.

"This summer has been another dramatic reminder that climate change is everybody's problem.

"It is not just hot regions that are suffering anymore with some parts of Western and Northern Europe experiencing extreme heat and historically high health burden."

He warned that European cities were poorly adapted to rising temperatures and that greater investment was needed in urban cooling, green spaces and healthcare provision.

The researchers point out that their analysis covers urban populations only.

This means the total number of heat-related deaths across Europe during the summer will have been considerably higher.

Dr Barnes said the findings reinforced the need for targeted measures to protect vulnerable populations, alongside rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit further warming.