Europe heatwave linked to more than 10,000 excess deaths in late June

LONDON: More than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe during the record-breaking heatwave that swept western parts of the continent in late June, official data published by EuroMOMO, a mortality monitoring network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, showed.

The figures, drawn from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, showed 10,650 excess deaths from all causes in the week of June 22 to 28, when the heatwave was at its peak in France, Spain, Britain and other countries. More than 9,000 of those deaths were among people aged 65 and above.

Scientists said there were no other known major factors, including COVID-19 outbreaks, that would explain the sharp rise in deaths during that week. In the previous eight weeks, the same group of European countries had on average recorded around 500 fewer deaths per week than typical levels. EuroMOMO noted that the figures may be revised in the coming weeks as additional data is received.

Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, said the mortality spike was highly unusual for that point in the year.

"To have this kind of excess at this time of year is unusual. It’s really high", Vestergaard told Reuters.

He added "It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat".

Extreme heat can prove fatal through heat stroke or by worsening cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, with older people considered among the most vulnerable. Scientists have also said the late-June heatwave would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events.

Countries most affected

EuroMOMO does not release country-by-country excess death totals, but France and Belgium were the only two countries in Europe to register very high excess mortality in the final week of June. Belgium's public health institute, Sciensano, said the country's excess mortality during that period was the highest recorded in any heatwave since records began in 2000.

The heatwave disrupted electricity supplies, forced school closures and broke temperature records in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Separate study in Britain

A separate scientific study published on Monday estimated that 2,700 people in England and Wales died from heat-related causes during the heatwaves in May and June alone. Findings by Imperial College London, the UK Met Office and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine showed 42% of those deaths were caused by the additional heat linked to global warming's contribution to the heatwaves.