BERLIN — France recorded about 1,000 excess deaths during last week’s record-breaking heatwave, health authorities said Sunday. The World Health Organization warned that Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent and called for stronger action to protect vulnerable populations.
Public Health France said mortality surged sharply during the peak of the heatwave, with more than 1,200 deaths recorded on Wednesday and over 1,400 deaths on each of the following two days, compared with the usual daily average of 900 to 1,000 deaths before the extreme temperatures.
The agency estimated that at least 1,000 additional deaths occurred during the three-day period, warning that the figure is likely to rise as more data, particularly from deaths at home, becomes available. About 85% of the victims were aged 65 or older.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 1,300 excess deaths linked to extreme heat have been recorded across Europe since June 21.
“Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average,” Tedros wrote on X, warning that extreme heat has become an almost annual event because of climate change and describing heat stress as a “silent killer.”
Temperature records continued to fall across central Europe on Sunday. Germany registered a new national high of 41.7°C in Neißemünde near the Polish border, while Poland reached a record 40.5°C. The Czech Republic also set a new all-time high of 41.9°C, surpassing the record established just a day earlier.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group said the unprecedented temperatures would have been virtually impossible without climate change and are now around 200 times more likely than they were 20 years ago.
The extreme heat triggered widespread disruption across Europe. Wildfires broke out in eastern and southwestern Germany, forcing evacuations and complicating firefighting efforts because of unexploded World War II ammunition buried in affected forests.
In Berlin, police deployed water cannons near the Brandenburg Gate to cool residents and tourists, while emergency services responded to hundreds of additional heat-related medical calls.
Germany’s transport network also remained under strain as heat damaged highways and railway infrastructure. More than 600 passengers were evacuated from an overheated train after it lost power during a storm, and authorities in Leipzig suspended tram services because high temperatures damaged tracks and switching equipment.
Elsewhere, several people were injured after lightning struck an amusement park in southern Sweden, while Denmark recorded more than 1,100 lightning strikes as severe thunderstorms followed the intense heat across parts of northern Europe.
Source: Saudi Gazette