AI-generated illustration

More than 50,000 people are estimated to have died in urban areas of Europe during this summer's extreme heat, with two thirds of those deaths attributed to climate change driven by fossil fuel use, researchers found.

Scientists from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine examined heat-related mortality across 854 urban areas in 30 countries, including the European Union's 27 members, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland.

Study covers 854 urban areas in 30 countries

The urban areas studied are home to about 40 percent of the population of the countries examined. Using temperature records and models built on previously observed links between heat and death rates, the researchers estimated the extra deaths expected from hot weather in each area during summer periods from 2000 to 2026.

The approach produced results consistent with official heat-death statistics later published by national health authorities, the researchers said.

Deaths reach the highest level since 2000

Based on the estimates, more than 50,000 people died in the countries studied as a result of this summer's extreme heat. Two thirds of those deaths are linked to climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Heat-related deaths in the summer of 2026 were the highest recorded since the data began in 2000. High temperatures had caused 29,000 deaths in 2022 and 28,000 in 2003, the study found.

Southern and Western cities hit hardest

The researchers estimate that about one third of the deaths occurred between June 17 and July 1, when daily average temperatures across the region exceeded the 1991 to 2020 average by more than 5 degrees.

Cities in Southern and Western Europe were among the worst affected, recording both the highest temperatures and the largest numbers of deaths. In normally cooler northern European countries such as the United Kingdom, roughly 4,500 people are estimated to have died from the heat. About 6,000 people under the age of 65 also died in the urban areas analysed, even though heat-related deaths mostly affected older people.

Heat waves intensified the summer in Western Europe

The summer was made more severe by successive heat waves, particularly in Western Europe, which recorded the largest temperature anomaly and serious effects on public health.

Across the season, temperatures ran about 2.9 degrees above the 1991 to 2020 average, and on some days the difference reached 12 degrees.

Key takeaways

• More than 50,000 people are estimated to have died from this summer's heat in European urban areas, the highest level since 2000.
• Two thirds of the deaths are attributed to climate change caused by fossil fuel use.
• About a third of the deaths occurred between June 17 and July 1, when temperatures exceeded the 1991 to 2020 average by more than 5 degrees.
• Roughly 6,000 of those who died in the urban areas analysed were under 65.