The summer of 2026 resulted in more than 50,000 heat-related deaths in Europe, two-thirds of which were attributable to climate change
More than 50,000 people died as a result of extreme heat in European towns and cities during the summer of 2026 – the highest figure recorded to date – according to two new studies published in Nature Health. After analysing 854 urban areas across 30 countries (the EU-27, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland), researchers from Imperial College and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom) have concluded that climate change resulting from the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for two-thirds of these deaths. The five countries most affected were, in this order, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the UK. According to these studies, 6,824 people died from heat-related causes in Spain this summer — 1,000 more than estimated by the MoMo system — of whom 77 per cent can be attributed to climate change.