Europe saw at least 30,000 excess deaths across a blistering summer of back-to-back heatwaves and drought, with provisional figures blaming man-made climate change. EuroMomo estimated more than 32,000 excess deaths between mid-July and mid-August, while an AFP count from eight countries found 33,000 excess deaths or heat-linked deaths. Germany recorded 14,000 heatwave-linked deaths up to August 9, a record since 2016. France, Spain, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Portugal also reported large provisional tolls.
People walk down a street as a pharmacy thermometer indicates a temperature of 36 Celsius degrees as a heatwave hits France, downtown Nantes, western France, on Jun. 19, 2025. AFP-Yonhap
PARIS — Europe saw at least 30,000 excess deaths across a blistering summer of back-to-back heatwaves and drought which scientists have blamed on man-made climate change, according to provisional figures.
Between mid-July and mid-August, the continent's EuroMomo monitoring platform estimates that Europe saw more than 32,000 excess deaths — with summer yet to come to an end.
While EuroMomo does not publish breakdowns of deaths by country, various national health authorities have published provisional tolls covering comparable periods stretching roughly between the end of May and August.
