Hundreds of people have died across Western Europe as a result of a record-breaking heatwave over the past week.Spain’s Health Ministry said Thursday that as many as 212 people have died in the country since Saturday due to the heat wave, using data provided by regional governments. A monitoring system in the country recorded 13 deaths on Saturday, 38 on Sunday, 66 on Monday, and 95 on Tuesday, by far the highest death toll of any European country. France was in a distant second, with 50 recorded deaths. The vast majority of deaths in France, 48, were due to drowning, when people seeking respite from the heat swam into dangerous areas. The remaining two recorded deaths were children found in hot cars.Millions across France and Spain experienced temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the worst heat on the continent. Pissos, in southwestern France, experienced the highest recorded temperature at 111.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Tuesday was France’s hottest day on record since records began 80 years ago.
French Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu announced that he had activated the highest level of emergency mobilization for the country’s healthcare system to cope with the heat.The United Kingdom didn’t reach as high temperatures, but its infrastructure was less prepared. England and Wales received rare extreme heat warnings, forcing many schools to close early. Outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer left the ultimate decision on whether schools, which aren’t air-conditioned, would open or close to each individual school.“It is very hot and obviously schools will have to take the appropriate measures and each school will gauge for itself what the measures are,” he said. “But it is important that we as a government coordinate this across the country and with all of the countries within the United Kingdom, which is what we’re doing.”The heat in southern England and Wales led to some comedic outcomes. A London Climate Action Week 2026 event on how to deal with the extreme heat was due to extreme heat.Italy was also scorched. Casualties were unclear, but the country’s health ministry issued its highest heat alert for 16 cities, including Florence, Rome, Turin, and Verona.FORTY DROWN IN FRANCE TRYING TO ESCAPE RECORD HEAT WAVE SCORCHING EUROPEOutside of drowning and heat stroke, the heat’s most tangible impact was a wide breakdown in infrastructure from overheating, with often dangerous outcomes. A hospital in Ghent, Belgium, had its electronic patient record knocked out “due to overheating of the central server at a company in Paris.” Scheduled surgeries were canceled as a result, and emergency cases were transferred to other hospitals.Heat waves have killed tens of thousands of people across Europe over the past half-decade, when they began becoming a chronic problem. The deaths are skewed toward the elderly and children, who are particularly vulnerable to heat-related issues.
