Study Estimates European Summer Heat Caused More Than 50,000 Deaths

More than 50,000 people are estimated to have died from heat in European cities between June and August 2026, according to new research that attributed nearly two-thirds of the deaths to human-caused climate change.

Researchers estimated 50,391 heat-related deaths across 854 cities in 30 European countries, with more than 32,000 linked to the additional heat caused by fossil fuel pollution. The cities represent about 40% of the population in the countries studied.

The estimates were produced by comparing observed temperatures with those expected in a hypothetical world without climate change, then applying established relationships between temperature and daily mortality. The totals are modeled estimates rather than counts from death certificates, which often do not identify heat as a contributing factor.

The study found that summer 2026 was likely the deadliest for heat across much of Europe in the 26-year period analyzed. Hot weather killed nearly twice as many people as in each of the next two deadliest years, according to The Guardian. The estimated share of heat deaths attributable to climate change rose from about 40% at the start of the century to 65% in 2026.

Heat-related death rates were highest in Malta, Italy and Hungary, while Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom recorded the largest estimated totals. Naples had the highest age-adjusted rate among the cities studied, at 815 deaths per million people.