Heat killed “a staggering” 50,000 people in European cities this summer, scientists warn | Extreme heat

Heat killed a record 50,000 people in European cities this summer, according to a new study, with scientists blaming climate change for two out of three deaths.

Mortuaries and funeral homes filled with bodies from June to August as added heat from planetary pollution claimed the lives of an additional 32,000 people in urban areas, researchers found. Hot days caused vulnerable bodies to overexert themselves, and hot nights made it difficult for them to recover.

The “staggering” toll, modeled on historical relationships between heat and health in 854 cities, was the worst on record, the study said. Hot weather marked by relentless heatwaves killed nearly twice as many people as in each of the next two most dangerous years.

“In some ways, the absolute number of heat-related deaths estimated in the 854 urban areas is indeed staggering,” said Malcolm Mistry, a climate and health scientist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, co-author of the study. “But what is perhaps even more alarming is the proportion of these deaths that we attribute to anthropogenic climate change. »

The share of deaths due to climate change increased from around 40% at the start of the century to 65% this summer, according to the study.

The highest mortality rates were recorded in Malta, Italy and Hungary, while the absolute number of deaths was highest in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. Because death certificates rarely record contributing factors — such as dangerous temperatures that push a stroke victim or lung cancer patient beyond their limits — families rarely know that heat and human activity hastened their loved ones’ deaths.

“These shocking figures represent thousands of families who have lost a loved one this summer to the climate crisis,” said Katie White, Minister for Climate Transition in the United Kingdom, where scientists have estimated 4,354 heat-related deaths this summer.

In Naples, the continent’s hardest-hit city, 815 people per million died from the heat, according to the study’s age-standardized estimates. Mario Guarino, an emergency room doctor at Ospedale CTO in the city’s north, said he saw a 15% increase in emergency room visits during the warmer weeks.

The “defining characteristic” of this period was the complexity of health problems exacerbated by the heat, he added, with loneliness and poverty making the situation even worse.

“We took in a terminal cancer patient who was living in a hot attic simply because his family couldn’t find a company to install air conditioning during the summer,” Guarino said. “An elderly man with dementia was abruptly abandoned by his Ukrainian caregiver who was returning home to say goodbye to her son, who had been called to war. Emergency services found (the man) lying on the floor one night with a broken pelvis, desperately trying to call the tenant next door.”

The study found that people aged over 85 accounted for almost half of the deaths, although younger people were not immune, with 833 people aged 20 to 44 also believed to have died due to the heat. The scientists said the death toll in the cities studied, which represent around 40% of Europe’s population, could not be easily extrapolated to estimate the total number of deaths, including those in towns and villages.

The scorching heat that persisted in Western Europe this summer was the worst on record, the EU’s climate monitoring service said this month, with more than half the continent hit by “very strong” heat stress that appeared to be above 38C. Slightly less severe temperatures in Eastern Europe brought the continental average to its third warmest level on record.

Greenhouse gases have warmed Europe about twice as fast as the global average, exposing more people to intolerable summers and fewer people to dangerously cold winters. Although cold kills more than heat, scientists expect that rising temperatures will kill more people than they save, because heat deaths are expected to increase faster than cold deaths decrease.

The study combined established relationships between heat and mortality with temperature data for 2026 to quickly estimate the fallout from this summer’s heat. The death toll in each country differs from what national public health agencies have calculated using their own methods.

David García-García, a researcher at the mortality surveillance system at Madrid’s Carlos III Health Institute, who was not involved in the study, said it was a “valuable contribution” that allowed comparisons across the continent. “However, it is important to keep in mind that these are estimates based on observed temperatures and epidemiological models, which do not incorporate actual data on deaths occurring during the summer of 2026,” he said.

Doctors urged governments to burn fewer fossil fuels – the main driver of rising temperatures – while strengthening health systems, making cities greener, rolling out air conditioning and encouraging people to drink water and seek shade. They also highlighted the value of people checking in with vulnerable neighbors and family members so they can get help before a tragedy strikes.

“The real epidemic these days is loneliness,” Guarino said. “Many elderly people find themselves alone during the summer, abandoned by their families and, due to their low income, they cannot afford air conditioning or, if they have one, avoid turning it on because of the cost of electricity.