June heatwave kills more than 10,000 in Europe

A record heatwave that swept across western Europe in late June killed more than 10,000 people than normal. According to data from the European mortality monitoring network Euromonitor, a total of 10,650 extra deaths were recorded in 27 European countries in the week from 22 to 28 June.

The majority of the dead were elderly. According to Euromonitor, more than 9,000 of the excess deaths were aged 65 or over. Extreme heat can increase the risk of heat stroke, as well as heart disease and pre-existing respiratory complications, which pose a particular risk to the elderly.

Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at the Stattens Serum Institute in Denmark, said that such a large excess of deaths is unusual for this time of year. According to him, there was no major reason for the sudden increase in mortality that week other than extreme temperatures.

However, the Euromoney figures are not the number of deaths directly recorded as ‘heat-related deaths’ in medical certificates. They are an estimate of excess deaths compared to the expected normal mortality rate. Scientists said that the heat wave is believed to be the main reason for this unusual increase, as there were no major COVID-19 infections or other disease outbreaks at that time.

In the eight weeks before the heat wave, the same countries had an average of about 500 fewer deaths per week than expected. As a result, the researchers believe that the sudden jump in the last week of June is more significant. Euromoney also said that this calculation may be revised slightly if new data is added.

The full number of deaths by country has not been published. However, the excess deaths were highest in France and Belgium. According to the Belgian public health agency CienSano, this is the highest number of excess deaths during a heatwave in the country since records began in 2000.

The intense heat has set new temperature records in several European countries, including France, Spain and the United Kingdom. Power outages, school closures and major disruptions to daily life have also been caused.

A separate study in England and Wales has linked about 2,700 deaths to several heatwaves in May and June. Researchers say about 42 percent of these deaths are linked to extreme temperatures caused by human-induced global warming.

According to climate scientists, such an intense heatwave in late June would have been almost impossible without human-induced climate change. The risk of heatwaves in Europe in the future is increasing due to global warming.

Source: Reuters and Euromoney.