The high temperatures of the consecutive heat waves recorded in Europe this summer have caused the death of at least 35,000 more people compared to what would be expected under normal circumstances. According to provisional national figures published by The Guardian this Tuesday, the excess mortality in Germany, France, and Spain, which are three of the largest countries in the EU, exceeds 25,000 deaths, a figure expected to increase when the total numbers for August are consolidated. Additionally, according to the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo), Spain has reached a new record, having surpassed 5,000 heat-related deaths this summer.
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Germany is the country with the highest excess mortality due to this situation. The previous record in the most populous country of the EU was 8,900 deaths in 2018, but this summer, however, it has reached 14,000 deaths between April 6 and August 9. This figure is much higher than usual in normal summers, which usually stays below 2,000 deaths, notes the public health agency Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which also reports that just in the week from June 22 to 28, 9,600 people died due to the heat.
In Spain, the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo) of the Carlos III Health Institute points out that 5,030 deaths can be attributed to heat since last May, the highest number of heat-related deaths in the historical series, which began in January 2015, and which also exceeds the 4,789 fatalities recorded in the summer of 2022. In the Valencian Community, during last week when there was an extreme heat episode, heat-attributable deaths rose to 96, making it the second deadliest week so far this summer.
Spain and Germany model heat-related deaths in real time, as they compare daily temperatures and mortality rates to calculate heat-attributable deaths, which usually exacerbate preexisting conditions such as respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, and victims die from a heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure.
Other countries
France, England, Belgium, Netherlands or Poland: the figures are worrying
Meanwhile, the French national health agency indicated last week an initial figure of excess deaths from “all causes” between late May and July 22 amounting to 7,300. With an update to come later, more than 500 weather stations in the country have recorded temperatures above 40°C and 98% of its population was under heat alert at least once.
In the United Kingdom, its health security agency stated in July that its models suggested that the heat waves of May and June caused 2,877 heat-related deaths in England.
Belgium and the Netherlands have also recorded additional deaths. The former has declared that its preliminary data show a 39% increase in mortality between June 18 and 29, equivalent to 1,222 additional deaths, and the latter has reported that at least 900 more people than usual died between June 22 and July 5.
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In Poland, based on a rapid modeling study cited by the European Commission, it is estimated that 1,070 more people than usual died during the late June heat wave, and in Switzerland, data from the public health authority suggest an excess of 220 heat-related deaths in that same week. Additionally, initial figures from Luxembourg, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Denmark indicate around 40 additional deaths in each of those countries.
Also read
Record temperatures
Western Europe experienced the hottest June-July bimonthly period since at least 1979
Scientists state that global warming caused by human activities influences extreme heat to be more frequent and intense, something that has already been devastatingly reflected in Western Europe, heavily hit by high temperatures.
This area of the continent experienced the hottest June-July bimonthly period since at least 1979, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which has brought historic temperature records at hundreds of weather stations.
For example, France recorded the day with the highest national average temperature in its history and Germany broke records for three consecutive days at the end of June, with 46 stations exceeding 40°C.
Here in Spain, data from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), collected by Servimedia, indicate that the first 40°C of the year arrived on May 30, with 41.1°C in Montoro (Córdoba), and 40.4°C in Andújar (Jaén), and temperatures exceeded 45°C on two days, coinciding with the first heat wave of 2026.
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