The heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, according to scientists.
A person shelters under an umbrella by the Eiffel Tower during high temperatures amid a heatwave in Paris, Jun 27, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Tom Nicholson)
29 Jun 2026 04:45AM
PARIS/ROME/ZURICH: Temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Europe on Sunday (Jun 28) 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 and warned the number was expected to rise as more details 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.
"Driven by climate change and global warming, the phenomenon of the 'once-in-a-generation' heatwave is now occurring nearly annually. We were warned," he wrote, adding that Europe's homes, workplaces and schools were ill-equipped for extreme heat.The heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which has made this week's soaring night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been just two decades ago, according to scientists.
