Europe records more than 10,000 excess deaths during late-June heatwave

More than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across 27 European countries during a record-breaking heatwave in late June, with older people accounting for the vast majority of the toll, according to official mortality data.

Excess deaths concentrated among older people

European countries recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave that swept across western parts of the continent in late June, official data showed.

More than 9,000 of those deaths were among people aged 65 and over, according to EuroMOMO, a mortality monitoring network backed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization.

The figures cover all-cause excess mortality for the week of 22 to 28 June, when extreme heat peaked in France, Spain, Britain and several other countries. The network reported 10,650 excess deaths across 27 countries during that week.

Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters the scale of excess mortality was unusual for that time of year and difficult to explain by anything other than the extreme heat.

Climate change linked to rising heat risk

Scientists say human-caused climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense.

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A separate study published on Monday estimated that 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the May and June heatwaves, with 42% of those deaths attributed to the additional heat linked to global warming.

The late-June heatwave disrupted power supplies, forced schools to close and broke temperature records in France, Spain, Britain and other parts of Europe.

EuroMOMO said France and Belgium were the only European countries to record "very high excess" mortality in the final week of June, while Belgium's public health institute, Sciensano, said its excess mortality was the highest recorded during any heatwave since 2000.

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Europe heatwave climate change France Spain WHO