HOT SUMMER CLAIMS 50,000 LIVES

LONDON, OCTOBER 23 /SRNA – RIA Novosti/ – More than 50,000 people died in Europe as a result of extreme heat this summer, the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London has reported.

The report estimates that 50,391 deaths across 854 cities were associated with heat between June and August.

The total population of the 854 European cities included in the study is estimated at 173 million. The highest mortality rate was recorded among people aged over 85.

Regionally, Northern Europe had the lowest mortality rate, while the highest was recorded in the southern parts of the continent, the researchers said.

They estimate that current temperatures in Europe are, on average, approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than they would have been in a scenario without human-induced global warming.

The researchers calculated that approximately one-third of all excess deaths occurred between June 17 and July 1.

By comparison, the number of deaths associated with excessive heat in 2025 was almost half as high, at 24,500.

The study focused exclusively on urban populations, which account for approximately 40 per cent of the total population across the 30 countries included in the analysis.

The study’s authors suggest that the summer of 2026 was the deadliest in European history in terms of heat-related risks.