---
title: "Four waves of anomalous heat claimed at least 35,000 lives in Europe: who is paying the highest price"
description: "Four record heat waves this summer led to at least 35,000 deaths in Europe. The highest excess mortality was recorded in Germany, France and Spain, where the figure has already exceeded 25,000."
date: 2026-08-26T04:20:02.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/four-heat-waves-europe-35000-deaths
tags: [heat-wave-europe, climate-change, excess-mortality, europe-heat, public-health]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Four waves of anomalous heat claimed at least 35,000 lives in Europe: who is paying the highest price

![Heatwave map of Europe on a smartphone screen: record temperatures up to 40 degrees across central and southern regions](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/26/rekordnaya-zhara-v-evrope-minimum-35-tysyach-smertei/rekordnaya-zhara-v-evrope-minimum-35-tysyach-smertei-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Four waves of anomalous heat from May to August 2026 led to at least 35,000 excess deaths in Europe.
- Germany, France and Spain accounted for more than 25,000 excess deaths; in Spain (4,947) the 2022 anti-record was broken.
- Heat is almost never listed as a direct cause of death, so countries use different modelling methodologies.
- There is a discrepancy in estimates across sources: from "at least 35,000" to "nearly 40,000" — the August data are not yet closed.
- The WHO records a rise in heat-related mortality in Europe of more than 30% over 20 years against the backdrop of the climate crisis.

Summer 2026 has become one of the deadliest in Europe's recent history: four successive waves of anomalous heat, which have been sweeping across the continent since May, have led to at least 35,000 excess deaths, according to preliminary estimates. According to the combined data of national health agencies and meteorological services, the largest contribution to excess mortality came from three countries — Germany, France and Spain — where the combined number of "excess" deaths has already exceeded 25,000. At the same time, analysts emphasise that the final figures are not yet closed: as data for the second half of August is received and aggregated, the indicator is expected to rise significantly.

### Chronology of the four waves and temperature records

The heat in Europe this year began unusually early — as early as spring, in May, when the first temperature records were registered on the western part of the continent. Since then, waves of heat have followed one after another, successively covering Western Europe. The most extreme values were recorded at the end of June: in Germany, the thermometer rose above 40 degrees at 46 meteorological stations, while in Spain temperatures remained above 42 degrees for an extended period. In France, the 40-degree threshold was exceeded at more than 500 weather stations. Climatologists link this sequence and intensity of extreme events to a rare "Omega" atmospheric block, which, according to reports, "trapped" hot air over the European territory.

### Mortality by country: what national institutes are saying

According to an estimate by The Guardian, in Germany between 6 April and 9 August the heat may have been linked to around 14,000 deaths; the Robert Koch Institute separately reported that around 9,600 people died in the week from 22 to 28 June alone. The mortality monitoring system of the Carlos III Institute of Health in Spain linked 4,947 deaths to the heat — this already exceeds the previous national anti-record of 2022, when 4,520 people died from the heat. France's National Health Agency recorded 7,300 excess deaths from all causes between the end of May and 22 July. In the United Kingdom, the Medical Safety Agency estimated the number of heat-related deaths in England for May and June at 2,877 cases. Belgium reported a 39% rise in mortality between 18 and 29 June — roughly 1,222 excess deaths — while in the Netherlands at least 900 more people died than usual between 22 June and 5 July.

### Why heat is almost never listed on a death certificate

It is important to understand the methodological complexity: high temperatures rarely appear as the immediate cause of death. Heat, as a rule, aggravates the course of pre-existing diseases — triggering heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and exacerbations of cardiovascular pathologies. That is why countries use different methodologies: Spain and Germany, in particular, model indicators in real time, comparing air temperature data with mortality dynamics. Establishing the final cause of death takes weeks and even months, which is why many European states had not yet published complete data by the beginning of August. This means that all the figures cited are preliminary and conservatively understated.

### Contradictory data

There is a discrepancy in the final estimates in open sources. Baseline data and a number of European agencies use the wording "at least 35,000" excess deaths, while the Ukrainian outlet RBC.ua reports in its headline of "nearly 40,000 lives". The difference is explained both by differences in the coverage of countries and periods, and by the fact that part of the August data has not yet been aggregated: as it arrives, the lower bound of the estimate shifts upward. In addition, some media outlets (for example, Korrespondent) cite weekly snapshots — "more than 1,300 deaths in a week" — which is not equivalent to the cumulative lethal estimate for the whole summer and may create a false impression of the scale. Finally, the methodologies for calculating excess mortality in different countries are not standardised, so a direct addition of national figures gives only an approximate, not exact, sum. Both versions — "from 35,000" and "around 40,000" — reflect the same order of magnitude but differ in the degree of data completeness.

### Climatic context: a trend, not a coincidence

According to the World Health Organization, heat-related mortality in the European region has grown by more than 30% over the past 20 years. Scientists are unanimous that anthropogenic global warming is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense, and the number of deaths linked to high temperatures is expected to rise. Thus, the summer of 2026 is not an isolated anomaly but a continuation of a sustained trend that is turning heat into one of the main "invisible" factors of mortality in Europe.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Heat in Europe claimed nearly 40,000 lives this year](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/speka-evropi-zabrala-mayzhe-40-tisyach-zhittiv-1787717710.html) - Подтверждает масштаб летальности, но в заголовке оперирует цифрой «почти 40 тысяч», тогда как базовые данные дают «минимум 35 тысяч». Разница отражена в блоке противоречий как следствие незакрытых августовских данных.
- [Heat in Europe: "red level" in all major Italian cities. Austria breaks a record](https://ru.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/06/zhara-v-evrope-krasnyj-uroven) - Контекст от 6 августа 2026: жара продолжается, в Италии «красный уровень», Австрия бьёт температурный рекорд — согласуется с тезисом о продолжающихся волнах зноя.
- [Anomalous heat in Europe: more than 1,300 deaths in a week](https://korrespondent.net/world/4889946-anomalnaia-zhara-v-evrope-bolee-1300-smertei-za-nedelui) - Приводит недельный срез избыточной смертности (>1300 за неделю), что не тождественно суммарной летальной оценке за лето; использовано как иллюстрация темпа роста, а не как итоговая цифра.
- [Kronen Zeitung: heat in Austria peaked, setting a new temperature record](https://news.mail.ru/society/71878258/) - Подтверждает пиковые температурные рекорды в Центральной Европе в августе 2026, согласуется с описанием экстремальных значений волн жары.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: How many people in total died from the heat in Europe this summer?
**A:** According to preliminary estimates, at least 35,000 excess deaths; some sources cite a figure of around 40,000. The total may rise after the August data are aggregated.

### Q: In which countries was mortality the highest?
**A:** The most excess deaths were recorded in Germany, France and Spain — more than 25,000 in total. Significant figures were also seen in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands.

### Q: Why is heat almost never listed as a cause of death?
**A:** High temperatures are rarely the direct cause: they aggravate chronic diseases, trigger heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure, so countries use excess-mortality modelling methodologies.

### Q: Why do the figures differ across sources?
**A:** Countries apply different methodologies and different accounting periods, and the data for the second half of August have not yet been aggregated, so the lower bound of the estimate shifts as information arrives.

### Q: Is this linked to the climate crisis?
**A:** Yes. According to WHO data, heat-related mortality in Europe has grown by more than 30% over 20 years, and scientists note that anthropogenic warming is making extreme heat more frequent and intense.