Multiple waves of intense heat, fuelled by climate change, have sparked devastating droughts and wildfires in several European countries this year, cut crop yields and contributed to more than 25,000 excess deaths.Western Europe experienced its hottest start to summer ever recorded in 2026, with the June–July period reaching record levels, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.Since mid-June, 30 million people in France, 23 million people in Spain, and eight million in both Germany and Italy have faced temperatures above 40C at least once. Such high temperatures are extremely unusual in many of the areas affected, with many buildings -- even hospitals, schools and care homes -- unequipped with cooling measures such as air-conditioning.AFP based its calculations on daily maximum temperatures from the European Drought Observatory and population data from the EU's Joint Research Centre.More broadly, the thermometer climbed above 35 C in regions covering 80 percent of Europe’s residents, some 490 million people. As well as being intense, the heat was long-lasting. In France more than 20 million people faced temperatures over 35C for at least 21 days -- five times more than in the summer of 2022.