More than 32,000 deaths are attributable to the heatwaves that struck Europe between mid-June and mid-August. The figure comes from provisional data published by the European mortality monitoring platform (EuroMomo). These are partial data: not only because they do not cover the first heatwave — the one that hit the western portion of the continent at the end of May — but above all because the statistical model used gathers information from only 23 countries (part of Eastern Europe is excluded).

The last week of June the most dramatic, with 16,000 deaths

An analysis by the AFP news agency, for example, looked at data from eight nations — Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, England, the Netherlands, Austria and Portugal — but also included the month of May. The result already points to at least 33,000 excess deaths compared to the average for the period. In particular, it was the last week of June that proved the most dramatic, with 16,000 deaths concentrated in just seven days, followed by the first week of July, during which eight thousand people lost their lives.

Overall, Germany — Europe's most populous nation with 82 million inhabitants — paid the heaviest price, with around 14,000 deaths, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute.

In second place is France, with 7,300 deaths between May and 22 July (though in this case the official figures do not yet take August into account, a month that saw another prolonged wave of extreme heat).

More than seven thousand deaths in Spain and the United Kingdom from extreme heat

In Spain, according to AFP, deaths attributable to unbearable temperatures total nearly 4,500 (between 1 June and 19 August). At the same time, according to the Madrid meteorological agency Aemet, the month of July just passed was the hottest ever recorded in the Iberian nation (on a par with July 2022).

Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, located considerably further north, the UK Health Security Agency estimated 2,877 deaths for the period between May and June alone. But with the "height" of summer not yet factored in, the same body noted that the overall final count could be "considerably higher".

In Belgium too, the national public health institute Sciensano has so far calculated only the deaths attributable to extreme heat recorded up to 17 July: the figure stands at 2,570 people who lost their lives. Data covering the entire summer will be published in September. Similarly, in the Netherlands the still-partial data (running only to 5 July) indicate nearly one thousand deaths. Meanwhile in Austria and Portugal — in the first case with data not extending beyond June, in the second reaching the end of July — the figures stand at 400 and 600 deaths respectively.

In Italy, deaths among the over-85s up 8 per cent

As for Italy, no official tally yet exists, but according to the newspaper La Repubblica, citing data from the Ministry of Health, an 8 per cent increase in mortality has been recorded among the over-85 age group.