Europe’s deadliest summer: 50,000 heat-related deaths in 2026, two-thirds linked to climate change

The summer of 2026 saw a record number of heat-related deaths across Europe. A scientific study estimates that human-caused climate change was responsible for nearly two-thirds of these fatalities.

The summer of 2026 in Europe was marked by successive heat waves, drought affecting major rivers, and wildfires. It also may have been the deadliest summer due to extreme heat in at least the past 26 years. Research conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimates that heat was associated with 50,391 deaths in major European cities during June, July, and August.

That figure far exceeds estimates from two other particularly extreme summers: 29,480 deaths in 2022 and 28,462 in 2003. Compared with 2025, when an estimated 24,572 people died, this year’s death toll nearly doubled.

The findings are part of two studies published in the scientific journal Nature Health, one already available and the other scheduled for publication the week after the original research was released.

Extreme heat and a death toll that often goes unnoticed

To assess the impact, researchers analyzed temperature and mortality data from 854 major urban areas across …….