At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded during Europe’s June heatwave: analysis

People stand near over water hoses spray water to provide relief from the heat in Cologne, Germany, on June 25, 2026 during a heatwave in Europe. Photo by Ina FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images

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At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during June’s heatwave, national statistics indicated, a toll that could yet rise as more data is released, according to an AFP analysis.

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During this period, all-time temperature records were broken in several European countries, as well as for the month of June in the U.K. and in Switzerland.

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And while the mortality statistics remain provisional, they are an early indication of the human cost of these record-breaking heatwaves, which are becoming increasingly common.

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AFP analyzed data on excess deaths between June 22 and 28 from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

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During this period, the height of the heatwave in several countries, around 10,000 excess deaths were recorded in these countries.

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Another 2,200 deaths were linked to the heatwave in England and Wales between June 18 and 28, according to estimates released by Britain’s Met Office.

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Provisional data from the European Mortality Monitoring (EuroMOMO) also recorded a significant rise in excess deaths in the final week of June: it put the figure at 14,260. Their figures for that week drew on official statistics from 24 countries, accounting for some 400 million residents.

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EuroMOMO’s figures do not include parts of eastern Europe.

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“The summer is not yet over,” Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, warned in a statement.

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“This is not a natural disaster and it’s repeating itself every year because too many governments are still treating heat as a weather event rather than a health emergency,” he added.

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“The tools to prevent most of these deaths exist. “The guidance is published. The evidence is there,” he argued.

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“What governments do next is a choice, and this summer shows what’s at stake.”

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These figures indicate that this week had the highest rate of excess deaths among all June weeks since EuroMOMO began pulling these European figures together in 2020.

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The only other summer week in which a higher rate of excess deaths has been recorded over that seven-year period was a week in July 2022 when Covid was still active in many European countries.

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“There’s no other reasons for excess mortality that we know of than heat — and it’s quite dramatic,” said Lasse Vestergaard, an epidemiologist at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut and coordinator of EuroMOMO.

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But he urged caution in interpreting the most recent figures — according to EuroMOMO, it takes four weeks for estimates to become sufficiently consolidated.

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The initial figures released by national bodies have often been revised upwards since the end of the June heatwave.

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Different countries have different ways of compiling the relevant figure.