June heatwave caused high excess mortality in Europe

A severe heatwave in June led to an excess mortality of at least 12,000 people across nine European countries within a single week, according to an analysis by news agency AFP. This figure, based on preliminary data, may even be an underestimate of the true toll.

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Summer is not over yet.

The analysis focused on death statistics from June 22 to 28 in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. During this period, several of these nations experienced the peak of the heatwave, resulting in approximately 10,000 more deaths than typically recorded for that week. An additional 2,200 deaths were linked to the heatwave in England and Wales between June 18 and 28, according to estimates from the British Met Office.

While the figures are preliminary, they underscore the significant human cost of heatwaves. The European monitoring system EuroMOMO also reported a marked excess mortality in the last week of June, estimating it at 14,260 deaths. This data, compiled from 24 countries with a combined population of around 400 million, highlights the widespread impact of the extreme heat.

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This is not a natural disaster, and it repeats every year because far too many governments still treat heat as a weather event rather than a health crisis.

Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, cautioned that summer is far from over and stressed the urgency of addressing heat as a public health crisis. He criticized governments for treating heatwaves merely as weather events, stating that effective tools exist to prevent many of these heat-related deaths. Kluge emphasized that governments' choices determine the outcomes, and the current summer demonstrates the high stakes involved.

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There are tools to prevent many of these deaths, and WHO has published guidance.

Epidemiologist Lasse Vestergaard, coordinator for EuroMOMO, noted that the excess mortality recorded in late June was the highest since 2020, with the only comparable period being a week in July 2022 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He described the situation as "dramatic," especially since heat is the only identified cause for this excess mortality. However, Vestergaard also advised caution in interpreting the numbers, as final data and multi-week analyses are still pending for many countries, and methodologies for calculating excess mortality can vary.

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What governments do is their choice, and this summer shows what is at stake.