The death toll from a week of abnormal heat in Europe in June exceeded 16,000 people. According to mortality data, the week of scorching heat in Europe in June 2026 proved to be "unusually deadly," triggering a historic spike in deaths on the continent, as reported on August 15 in an article by The New York Times (NYT).
According to an analysis by the European Mortality Monitoring Network, approximately 16,000 more people died during the abnormal heat in Europe than usual.
"Most deaths occurred in northern countries — France, Belgium, and Germany — which are not accustomed to such high temperatures and struggled to cope with the situation," the article states.
According to the publication, at the end of June, air temperatures across most of the continent, including Spain and Italy, exceeded +38 degrees. But it was in northwestern Europe, where countries were less prepared for the heat, that a sharp spike in mortality was observed.
In late June 2026, abnormal heat swept across Western European countries, primarily France and Spain, as well as Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Bloomberg reported on August 2 that Europe's heavy industry is suffering due to the drying up of the region's largest rivers amid the prolonged heat that has hit the continent.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), under the German Federal Ministry of Health, reported on August 13 that about 12,500 people died in Germany in 2026 due to the effects of severe heat, a figure significantly exceeding average annual levels. Among the last ten years, 2018 and 2019 were particularly severe — with 9,400 and 7,700 heat-related deaths, respectively.
