At least 10,000 people died from extreme heat in Europe

At least 10,000 people may have fallen victim to the extreme heat that gripped Europe in the second half of June.

This is evidenced by data from the European center for mortality monitoring.

According to its data, excess mortality in Europe in the 26th week of 2026 exceeded 10,000 people across all age groups. Moreover, the predominant value was recorded in the group of people aged 65 and over — more than 9,000 deaths.

At the same time, an extremely high level of excess mortality was registered in Belgium and France, moderate in Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy were included in the list of countries with low levels of excess mortality.

In the second half of June, Europe faced extremely hot weather. Thermometer readings in Western European countries exceeded 40 degrees. On July 9, the European Earth remote sensing and mapping service Copernicus confirmed that the past June became the hottest in the history of meteorological observations with an average air temperature at the Earth's surface of 20.74 degrees.

Source: TASS