Europe heatwave killed 10,650 more people than usual in June, new data shows
New figures point to around 10,650 excess deaths across Europe during the late-June 2026 heatwave. The vast majority were aged 65 or over.
The heatwave that baked western Europe in late June caused roughly 10,650 more deaths than would be normal for the season, according to newly released data. It is the numerical answer to the question many people asked during those furnace-like days: how many people was this extreme heat actually killing.
How many people died?
Researchers point to 10,650 excess deaths in the week of 22-28 June, with no other known factors — such as COVID-19 outbreaks — to explain the spike. More than 9,000 of those deaths were among people aged 65 and over, the group most vulnerable to heat stress, according to records from the European EuroMOMO network. Scientists also stress that a heatwave of that intensity would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change.
And what happened in Portugal?
Portugal sat at the heart of that furnace. In late June, yellow warnings spread to every district and the Iberian Peninsula pushed close to 44°C, with 42.7°C recorded at Pinhão on 21 June. We had already reported how the World Health Organization urged Europe to draw up heat emergency plans and how the heat dome settled over Iberia at the solstice.
The new toll confirms what experts have repeated for years: extreme heat kills mainly the old and the frail, and it does so quietly, far from the headlines of floods or wildfires. Weekly mortality data are available on the public EuroMOMO dashboard, which tracks excess deaths across dozens of European countries.
Illustrative · Photo: Fatih Turan / Pexels
