Extreme temperatures caused excess mortality in Europe

The extreme heat wave that hit western Europe in late June was associated with more than 10,000 additional deaths in 27 European countries, according to data published by the EuroMOMO network and cited by Reuters. Experts say the scale of the phenomenon is unusual for this time of year and that the main explanation is the exceptionally high temperatures.

• Most victims among the elderly

According to data from EuroMOMO, a network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), 10,650 excess deaths were recorded in the 27 countries monitored in the week of June 22-28. More than 9,000 of these were reported among people aged 65 and over. Extreme heat can cause deaths both through heatstroke and by worsening cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with the elderly considered the most vulnerable. "It is unusual to have such an excess at this time of year. The number is really high,” Lasse Vestergaard, chief medical officer at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters. According to him, it is difficult to explain this sudden increase in mortality by factors other than the extreme heat wave.

• Climate change amplifies the frequency and intensity of heat waves

The data analyzed includes excess deaths from all causes, not just those directly attributed to high temperatures. However, the researchers emphasize that, during the analyzed period, there were no other major factors, such as COVID-19 outbreaks or other epidemics, to justify the increase in the number of deaths. Moreover, in the previous eight weeks, mortality in the monitored countries had been, on average, about 500 deaths per week below usual levels, which strengthens the link between excess mortality and the heat wave. Scientists cited by Reuters estimate that the heat wave at the end of June would have been "virtually impossible” in the absence of climate change caused by human activities, a phenomenon that favors the emergence of increasingly frequent and intense heat episodes.

• France and Belgium, the most affected

EuroMOMO does not publish detailed data for each country, but it stated that France and Belgium were the only European countries that recorded a "very high” level of mortality in the last week of June. In Belgium, the national public health institute Sciensano said the excess mortality recorded during this heatwave was the highest since monitoring began in 2000.

The heatwave caused major disruption in several European countries, including power outages, school closures and new temperature records in France, Spain and the United Kingdom. Separately, a study published and cited by Reuters and AFP estimated that about 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the heatwaves in May and June. According to research by Imperial College London, the UK Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, about 42% of these deaths were caused by the additional temperatures associated with global warming.