June 28, 2026
Temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of Europe on Sunday as storms moved into other areas, with France reporting 1,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave.
The French public health agency said most of the heat-related fatalities involved older people, warning that the number was expected to rise as more information became available about deaths in residential care and private homes.
Scientists have said the heatwave, which began on Jun 20, was the worst recorded in Europe, and the blistering conditions have disrupted power generation, damaged infrastructure and overwhelmed healthcare systems.
"Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the X platform.
