According to scientists, the heat wave at the end of June would have been practically impossible without the impact of climate change caused by human activity, which is making heat waves increasingly frequent and intense.
The data, compiled from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, includes additional deaths from all causes, not just those linked to high temperatures, for the week of June 22 to 28, when the heatwave peaked in France, Spain, Britain and other countries.
However, the researchers stress that there were no other major factors, such as COVID-19 outbreaks, that could explain the increase of 10,650 additional deaths during that week. In the previous eight weeks, the combined mortality in the same European countries had been on average about 500 deaths per week lower than the usual level. The data may be revised in the coming weeks as more information is collected.
The extreme heat wave at the end of June caused power outages, school closures and breaking temperature records in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The monitoring network does not publish statistics broken down by country, but notes that France and Belgium were the only two countries in Europe to record a “very high” level of excess mortality in the last week of June.
According to the Belgian public health institute Sciensano, Belgium recorded the highest level of excess mortality during a heatwave since records began in 2000.
Another scientific study, published on July 13, estimates that in England and Wales alone, around 2,700 people died from heat-related causes during the heatwaves in May and June. Of these deaths, 42% were attributed to the additional heat caused by global warming, according to the study by Imperial College London, the UK Meteorological Service and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.