Over 50,000 people have died across Europe’s cities during the brutal heatwaves that hit the continent this summer, according to a report released by Imperial College London.
The finding noted that about two-thirds of the deaths, more than 32,600, were directly attributed to climate change, driven by fossil fuel pollution.
It stated, “We estimate 50,391 heat-related excess deaths (95% empirical confidence interval (eCI): 46,026–53,878) during the summer months of June to August over the 854 cities, which represent a combined population of almost 173 million residents in 2026.”
It noted that the highest mortality was estimated among individuals aged 85 years or older, noting that even among the 20–44 age group, the researchers found around 833 heat-related excess deaths.
According to the report, while the analysis focused on the summer months of June-August, the researchers also extended the analysis to May, finding a further 1,508 heat-related deaths between May 21 and May 31.
The report further showed that the summer of 2026 was characterised by a series of extreme heatwaves across Western Europe, with both monthly and annual temperature records broken repeatedly across many countries from May onwards.
It added, “The summer of 2026 has been confirmed as the third hottest on record over Europe, and the hottest ever for western Europe. Our analysis indicates that 2026 is likely to have been the most dangerously hot summer that Europe has experienced to date, with modelled heat-related excess deaths across these 854 cities substantially higher than in either 2003 or 2022.”
The analysis further showed that human-caused warming contributed significantly to heat-related mortality, with the majority of heat-related excess deaths in recent years found to be attributable to anthropogenic warming.
“I think we can be quite confident in stating that the summer of 2026 is likely to have been the worst on record for heat-related mortality across much of Europe,” said Clair Barnes, a climate change researcher at ICL.
The finding projecting climate change-induced deaths came ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP31) scheduled to take place in Turkey in November.
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