A drone view shows people at a beach as meteorologists forecast heat and record-breaking temperatures across the country in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, June 27. Reuters-Yonhap
Germany has recorded an estimated 5,120 heat-related deaths so far this year, most of them in late June when weekly average temperatures far exceeded 20 degrees Celsius, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for public health said on Thursday.
A majority of the deaths — around 4,270 — were among people aged 75 and older, the RKI said in a weekly report. More women than men died, mainly because they make up a higher share of the very elderly.
The German data add to a grim picture across Europe. The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a bulletin on Thursday that Western Europe had experienced its hottest June on record with an average of 20.74 degrees. National authorities have reported more than 4,700 excess deaths during the June 20-28 heatwave in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
According to the RKI, the highest numbers of heat-related deaths in Germany in the past decade were recorded in 2018 and 2019, with 8,400 and 6,900 deaths, respectively.
