Europe's unprecedented early summer heatwave may be responsible for hundreds of excess deaths, according to the head of the World Health Organization. Temperature records were broken across the continent again on Sunday, including in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, as extreme heat continued moving east.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that more than 1,300 excess deaths had been recorded since June 21, linked directly to high temperatures across Europe. "Heat stress is often called the 'silent killer', and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures," he said.
France's national health ministry reported around 1,000 more deaths than expected since Wednesday alone, with most extra fatalities among those aged 65 and over, including a 40% rise in people dying at home.
"Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average," Tedros warned, adding that millions are "living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling."
Germany recorded its hottest-ever day for a third consecutive day, with 41.7°C measured near the Polish border in eastern Brandenburg. The Czech Republic set its second temperature record in two days at 41.1°C, while Poland broke its all-time record with 40.5°C in the town of Slubice.
Tedros attributed the extreme weather directly to climate change, saying "once-in-a-generation" heatwaves are now occurring nearly annually.
The crisis has forced drastic measures. The Dutch festival Defqon.1 was cancelled under a code red heat warning. Paris banned takeaway alcohol in public and cancelled its pride march to ease pressure on emergency services. At least 74 people have drowned in France since the heatwave began, most in unsupervised rivers, lakes, and ponds, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
The heatwave has been linked to a "heat dome" effect, in which sinking, compressing air dries out and intensifies sunlight reaching the ground, a pattern scientists expect to recur with increasing frequency.
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