23.10.2026 07:30
According to a review by scientists covering 854 urban areas in 30 countries, it is estimated that more than 50,000 people died due to heat in the summer of 2026. Two-thirds of the deaths are attributed to climate change; deaths are at the highest level since 2000.
While it is estimated that more than 50,000 people lost their lives in urban areas during this summer's scorching heat in Europe, it was determined that two-thirds of these deaths occurred due to the effects of climate change.
Scientists from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine examined the impact of extreme heat on loss of life in 854 urban areas, home to approximately 40 percent of the population of 30 countries: the 27 member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland.
Using temperature records and modeling based on the relationship observed in the past between temperature and mortality rates, researchers estimated the number of excess deaths expected due to heat in each urban area during the summer periods of 2000-2026. This method was found to produce results consistent with official heat-related mortality statistics later published by national health authorities.
Accordingly, scientists estimate that more than 50,000 people lost their lives in these countries due to the scorching heat experienced this summer. Two-thirds of these deaths are attributed to climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels.
Deaths in the summer of 2026 due to extreme heat were the highest level in records kept since 2000. It had been determined that 29,000 deaths occurred in 2022 and 28,000 in 2003 due to high temperatures.
According to scientists' estimates, approximately one-third of the deaths occurred between June 17 and July 1. During this period, daily average temperatures across the entire region exceeded the 1991-2020 average by more than 5 degrees.
Among the most severely affected areas were cities in Southern and Western Europe, where the highest temperature values and loss of life were seen.
In urban areas of Northern European countries such as the United Kingdom, which are generally cooler, it is estimated that approximately 4,500 people lost their lives due to the heat.
Although heat-related deaths mainly affect older people, it is assessed that approximately 6,000 people under the age of 65 lost their lives due to the heat this summer in the urban areas analyzed.
The summer season was intensified especially by successive extreme heatwaves in Western Europe and had serious effects on public health. Western Europe was the region with the highest temperature anomaly.
Throughout the summer season, temperatures rose approximately 2.9 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, while on some days this difference reached as much as 12 degrees.