Death toll rises as Europe’s heatwave breaks temperature records

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World

Author: AFP,
Publish Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2026, 9:28am

Europe’s deadly heatwave pushed east on Sunday with hundreds of millions still sweltering across the continent despite fleeting relief from overnight storms.

The heat remained intense across central and eastern Europe, with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland hit hard as temperatures soared. At least 191 million Europeans were expected to face temperatures above 35C during the day.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had recorded more than 1300 excess deaths in Europe since June 21. Overall, about 381 million Europeans were set to see temperatures exceed 30C, according to analysis based on forecasts from the German Meteorological Service and population data.

This heatwave is the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would have been “virtually impossible” this early in the summer without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.

All-time temperature records have been broken in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as for the month of June in the UK and in Switzerland.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X: “Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling. Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average.”

Storms brought some respite overnight, particularly in France after several days of temperatures close to 40C. But they also caused damage, as a man died near Brussels when a tree fell on his car, local media reported.

In France, the highest-level heat alerts were expected to ease today, although millions continued to endure sweltering conditions.

Still marked by the 2003 heatwave – Europe’s worst in centuries, which killed around 15,000 people – French authorities feared a rising death toll.

The country’s national health agency said on Sunday that it had tallied around 1000 more deaths than expected from June 24, and warned that the figure was likely to increase further.

Many of those fatalities are among those aged 65 and over, it said.

But Health Minister Stephanie Rist said France would “probably” avoid a repeat of the devastating death toll during the 2003 heatwave, citing better preparation in care homes for the elderly.

The French weather agency, France-Meteo, was already examining the possibility of another heatwave in July.

Poland recorded a new all-time high of 40.5C in the western town of Slubice, according to the national meteorological institute.

Germany set a new national high of 41.7C at Coschen, near the Polish border, surpassing a high set just a day earlier. The Czech Republic also broke records for a second consecutive day, with 41.1C recorded in Doksany, north of Prague. That was later revised upwards to 41.9C.

- AFP