Heat Wave Hits Europe Harder Than Ever

The heat that swept across France last week killed about a thousand more people than usual, the national health agency said. The spike happened when temperatures hit record highs in many countries, including Germany and the Czech Republic, which set new all‑time peaks. Scientists from a European research group found that this extreme heat would have been almost impossible five decades ago and is now 200 times more likely than it was twenty years earlier. France’s death toll climbed from around 900–1, 000 per day before the storm to over 1, 400 on each of three consecutive days. Most of the extra deaths were among those aged 65 and older, especially in areas under red heat warnings that covered about three‑quarters of the country. The World Health Organization warned that Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with 150 million people currently living under extreme heat.

It called the current wave a “once‑in‑a‑generation” event that is now happening almost every year because of climate change. European governments were urged to improve preparedness, prevention and health‑system responses to protect people from the silent killer of heat stress. Other parts of Europe also felt the effects: lightning struck an amusement park in Sweden, causing injuries; Denmark recorded over a thousand strikes; and forest fires in Germany were complicated by unexploded World War II ordnance. Cities struggled to keep people cool, with Berlin’s police using water cannons at the Brandenburg Gate and ambulances rushing to treat heat‑related illnesses. Infrastructure suffered too: highways cracked, trains lost power after storms, and trams in Leipzig were shut down until early Monday because heat damaged tracks.

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