More than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe during the record heatwave that swept western parts of the continent in late June, according to official data from the EuroMOMO network, which is supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organisation.
The figures, drawn from 27 European countries and covering all causes of death between 22 and 28 June, show that over 9,000 of those deaths were among people aged 65 or older.
Lasse Vestergaard, a physician at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, told Reuters that a spike of this scale at this point in the year was “unusual,” and said extreme heat was likely the primary driver.
Experts have said the late-June heatwave was “practically impossible” without the human-caused climate change that is making heat events more frequent and more severe.
