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| EuroMomo : Heatwave in European countries |
Official data showed that European countries recorded more than 10,000 additional deaths during the unprecedented heatwave that swept across the west of the continent in late June.
According to data published by EuroMomo – a network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization – the vast majority of these deaths, exceeding 9,000 cases, were among people aged 65 and over.
Extreme heat can cause death through heatstroke, or exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with the elderly being among the most vulnerable groups.
In this context, Lasse Westergaard, chief physician at the Statens Serum Institute in Denmark, which hosts the EuroMomo network, told Reuters: "Recording this kind of increase in deaths during this time of year is unusual, and it is very high."
Vestergaard added: "It is difficult to explain this large increase in deaths with anything other than extreme heat."
The data, compiled from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, included excess deaths from all causes - not just those related to heat - during the week of June 22-28, the week in which the heatwave peaked in France, Spain, Britain and other countries.
However, scientists clarified that no other major known factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could have contributed to the surge of 10,650 additional deaths that week. Notably, the average number of deaths compiled across the same European countries over the preceding eight weeks was approximately 500 per week lower than usual. (EuroMomo's data may be revised in the coming weeks as more data becomes available.)
The severe heatwave in late June disrupted power supplies, closed schools, and broke temperature records in France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
EuroMomo does not publish excess death statistics for each country individually, but it noted that France and Belgium were the only two European countries to record "extremely high" excess deaths in the last week of June. The Belgian public health institute, Sciensano, reported that Belgium's excess death rate was the highest during any heatwave in records dating back to 2000.
In a related context, a separate scientific study published on Monday estimated that 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in England and Wales alone during the heat waves in May and June.
According to the findings of a study conducted by Imperial College London, the UK Met Office, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 42% of those deaths were caused by the additional heat that global warming contributed to during heat waves.
Scientists had previously indicated that the heat wave in late June would have been "almost impossible" were it not for climate change caused by human activities, which is making heat waves more frequent and intense.
