61,000 Europeans may have died in last summer’s heatwaves, experts say

(EurActiv, 11 Jul 2023) As many as 61,000 people may have died in Europe’s sweltering heatwaves last summer, according to new research, suggesting countries’ heat preparedness efforts are falling fatally short.

The study by researchers from European health institutes estimated that more than 61,600 people died from heat-related causes across 35 European countries from late May to early September 2022, during Europe’s hottest summer on record.

The study, published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, found that Mediterranean countries — Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain — saw the highest death rate according to population size.

“The Mediterranean is affected by desertification, heatwaves are amplified during summer just because of these drier conditions,” said study co-author Joan Ballester, a professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

In a summer that saw European countries hit by intense wildfires and drought, Portugal recorded a peak temperature of 47C in July – just shy of the country’s hottest temperature on record, of 47.3C in 2003.

In absolute numbers, Italy, Spain, and Germany saw the most lives lost due to the heat, with 18,010; 11,324; and 8,173 deaths respectively.

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EurActiv, 11 Jul 2023: 61,000 Europeans may have died in last summer’s heatwaves, experts say