Europe heatwave drives excess deaths as 191 million face 35C temperatures

France's public health agency has reported 1,000 excess deaths linked to the ongoing heatwave, as extreme temperatures continue to affect large parts of Europe. The agency said most of the fatalities involved older people, and it expects the mortality figure to rise as more information comes in from homes and residential care settings. The heatwave has also disrupted daily life across the continent, with schools and museums closing early in some places.

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According to AFP estimates, at least 191 million people in Europe are forecast to experience temperatures of 35C or higher. The hottest conditions are expected in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, while Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Austria and western Ukraine are also affected. France's weather agency said extreme conditions had eased in most of the country, although some areas in the northeast remained under a heatwave advisory.

French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said the impact of the heatwave could last for up to 10 days, adding that the episode was not over. The public health agency, which operates under the French Ministry of Health, said the health effects of the heat were being felt across the population, even though most of the reported deaths were among people aged 65 and older. In Germany, the heat has also been linked to several swimming accidents over the weekend, including at least two deaths in Berlin, according to police.

The figures underline the scale of the public health challenge posed by prolonged extreme heat across Europe. Heatwaves can place pressure on hospitals, care homes, transport systems and energy networks, while also increasing risks for older people and those with existing health conditions. The current episode has already forced early closures in schools and museums, showing how quickly routine services can be affected when temperatures rise sharply.

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The heatwave has been building since 20 June and has spread across multiple countries, with temperatures reaching or exceeding 40C in parts of Germany. In one area of eastern Germany, overnight temperatures did not fall below 29.4C on Saturday, which the German weather service said was the warmest night since records began almost 150 years ago. The broader pattern has raised concern about how prepared European countries are for repeated periods of extreme heat.

What remains unclear is how many additional deaths may be confirmed as more data is collected, and how long the heatwave will continue to affect different parts of Europe. It is also not yet clear whether further advisories, closures or emergency measures will be needed as the hot weather shifts eastward. The next updates are likely to focus on revised mortality figures, local disruption and any further official warnings.

The World Health Organisation says excess deaths linked to a heatwave sweeping across mainland Europe have reached 1,300. The extreme temperatures have affected several countries, including France, Germany and Italy, with some areas seeing readings above 40C. In France, heatwave-related storms have also caused fresh disruption, leaving about 36,000 homes without power.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the excess-death figure was calculated from last Sunday, when abnormally high temperatures began to be recorded. He said around 150 million people are currently living under extreme heat, while schools are shut and power grids are under strain. In comments posted online, he said the event was being driven by climate change and global warming and warned that what had once been described as a rare heatwave was now happening almost every year.

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The impact has varied across the continent, but the health and infrastructure pressures are being felt widely. In France, storms linked to the heatwave struck the Eiffel Tower with lightning and brought hail large enough to strip tiles from roofs, according to the report. Further storms were expected later in the day, adding to concerns about additional outages and damage.

In Italy, the heatwave was said to be at its peak, with temperatures expected to approach 40C, and an 82-year-old tourist died on a beach in Marina di Grosseto on the Tuscany coast. The episode underlines how extreme heat is becoming a broader public health and infrastructure issue across Europe. The WHO said European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures, highlighting the strain on energy systems, health services and daily life.

The report also said Germany, Denmark and Czechia had preliminarily beaten their all-time temperature records, while France and Switzerland had broken their June heat records. The heatwave is part of a wider pattern of severe weather affecting multiple countries at once, with the UK also having recorded three consecutive June temperature records before a cooler change was expected. The WHO said it is working with member states and partners on preparedness, prevention and stronger health-system responses to extreme heat.

That points to a growing policy challenge for governments as hotter summers place more pressure on hospitals, power networks and emergency planning. What remains unclear is how many of the reported excess deaths are directly attributable to the heatwave in each country, and how much further disruption the expected storms may cause in France. It is also not yet clear how long the current spell of extreme temperatures will last across the continent.

The next developments to watch are any updated mortality figures, further power outages and official responses from national authorities.

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