Europe heat wave: Over 1,300 excess deaths, WHO says

Poland and the Czech Republic both set record temperatures on Sunday of above 40 degrees Celsius as Europe continues to grapple with a sweltering heat wave.

The village of Doksany — which lies some 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Czech capital, Prague — recorded a temperature of 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Czech meteorological institute CHMI.

"This is the first time we have ever registered a temperature of 41 degrees in our official weather station network," CHMI said in a post on X.

The announcement comes after a record-breaking 40.9 degrees on Saturday.

It added that the Czech Republic had seen an inflow of warm air from the southwest, leading to an increase in temperature and a new record on Sunday.

Western Poland could break record from 1994

Meanwhile, neighboring Poland saw a record 40.5 degrees Celsius recorded in the town of Slubice, which straddles Poland's western border and is linked to its German twin city of Frankfurt (Oder), according to operational and telemetry data.

Poland's IMGW meteorological institute said that, if confirmed, this would beat the last record of 39.5 degrees Celsius which was registered in Slubice in July 1994.

Poland's highest recorded temperature in history was 40.2 degrees Celsius in 1921, registered in the ciy of Opole in the Silesia region, which at the time was part of the German Reich.

Temperatures of above 40 degrees Celsius are traditionally highly atypical for countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

For the third consecutive day, the DWD German Weather Service has reported a record temperature measurement. 

Sunday's new high mark was recorded in the small rural settlement of Coschen in Brandenburg. 

The hottest temperatures have moved east in recent days and now sit over states like Bradenburg and Saxony. 

The provisional measurement, which is still subject to a check from the DWD, stood at 41.7 degrees Celsius, or just over 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

On Saturday, a reading of 41.5 degrees Celsius was recorded in Drewitz in Saxony-Anhalt, and that figure was matched again on Sunday in Bad Muskau in Saxony on the Polish border. 

On Friday, the first provisional record temperature, 41.3 degrees Celsius in the western city of Saarbrücken, kicked off the wave of new entries.

The Czech Republic broke the record for the hottest day for the second time in two days on Sunday, recording 41.1 degrees Celsius in Doksany north of Prague, the country's meteorological institute CHMI said on Sunday.

The record was broken just before 3 p.m. local time, CHMI said on X.

"This is the first time we have ever registered a temperature of 41 degrees in our official weather station network. Temperatures are still growing so this is not the final high," CHMI added.

Over 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded in Europe since June 21, around the time the record-breaking heat wave started, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday.

"Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

He added that "more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since 21 June linked to high temperatures in Europe."

Ghebreyesus said the UN organization was working with its member states and partners to address the health threats posed by extreme heat. Work involves "focusing on preparedness, prevention and stronger health system responses" and encouraging countries to implement "heat health action plans."

"Heat stress is often called the 'silent killer' — and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures," he said.

Severe thunderstorms which arrived on the heels of a heat wave in Belgium have left one man killed, Belgian media reported.

The man died after a tree fell upon his car near Brussels on Saturday night.

The fire brigade in the capital received nearly 100 calls to deal with flooded roads and fallen trees. However, a fire service spokesperson was cited by the French AFP news agency as saying no injuries were reported.

Temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius were recorded in Belgium over the past week, much like the rest of Europe. This was followed by night-time storms which swept across the whole country, with wind gusts of up to 108 kilometers per hour, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute.

No trams will run in Germany's eastern city of Leipzig until early on Monday morning. 

The soaring temperatures have melted asphalt and otherwised damaged the tracks and points in multiple locations around the city. 

The Leipzig Transport Authority (LVB) initially suspended services until late on Saturday night, but subsequently extended the stoppage throughout the weekend.

The heat has caused the joint sealant for asphalt and concrete in points and tracks to run and clump together. The company said it was not currently safe for trains to operate. 

Buses were still running largely according to schedule in the city of well over half a million people southwest of Berlin. 

French news agency AFP has estimated that at least 191 million European residents will endure temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit and above on Sunday, as the current heat wave moves eastward into central and eastern Europe.

The heat is forecast to be particularly intense in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, per AFP estimates.

A total of 381 million people in Europe, excluding Turkey, will see temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.

The AFP analysis and predictions are based on forecasts from the German Meteorological Service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Center collated by Austrian NGO Klimadashboard.

At least seven people have died in swimming accidents in Germany over the weekend, which saw record-breaking temperatures.

The heat sent many people to lakes and rivers, as they attempted to cool off amid the scorching heat.

In the capital, police said two people died in separate swimming accidents. A 42-year-old man was found in the Jungfernheideteich man-made lake in western Berlin, while a 51-year-old man was found at the Tempelhofer urban harbor.

Meanwhile in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, a 27-year-old man drowned in the Neckar River near the city of Heidelberg, and a 30-year-old man died in a lake near Mannheim.

A child was also reported missing in the Rhine-Herne Canal in western Germany.

In the central state of Hesse, the body of a 40-year-old man was found from a lake near the financial capital Frankfurt.

And in Germany's most-populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a 45-year-old man was found in a lake near Dortmund. Northward near Hanover, an 8-year-old was found in a lake.

At Lake Constance near the border with Switzerland and Austria, the bodies of two elderly swimmers were recovered on Friday. They had disappeared a day earlier after jumping from a rental boat.

Saturday night was the hottest ever in Germany since records began, the weather service announced on Sunday.

The temperature in Saxony's Kubschütz did not drop under 84.92 degrees Fahrenheit during the night, the German Weather Service (DWD) said.

"This is a new record for the nighttime minimum temperature in Germany since records began," the DWD said.

The previous record was set on August 13, 2003, when nighttime temperature reached 27.2 degrees Celsius.

Since June 24, France has recorded approximately 1,000 additional deaths compared to previous months, the French Health Ministry said on Sunday, adding that the figure is not final.

"Numerous monthly and all-time records have been broken; Tuesday, June 23, was the hottest day on record nationwide, breaking the record set in 2003," the ministry statement read.

More than 1,200 deaths (of all causes) were recorded on June 24, with over 1,400 more on June 25 and June 26 each, the ministry said, adding that there were around 900 to 1,000 deaths per day in April and May.

"This increase has been more pronounced in regions under a red alert over the past few days, particularly in Ile-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Normandy, and Pays de la Loire," the Health Ministry said.

Although all age groups have been affected, 85% of the deaths were people aged 65 and older. 

Deaths have increased in hospitals, nursing homes and at home, the ministry noted, adding that deaths at home in particular spiked by 40%.

"This observation serves as a reminder of the need for measures of solidarity toward people who are isolated or experiencing profound loneliness, including in highly urbanized areas," it said.

The ministry stressed that the figures are based solely on electronic death certificates and are therefore non-conclusive, typically representing about 60% of national mortality, with deaths at home particularly a blind spot.

Germany broke its all-time heat record for the second straight day, with a preliminary reading of 41.5 degrees Celsius  (106.7 Fahrenheit), the German Weather Service (DWD) reported.

The new record was measured in the town of Möckern-Drewitz in eastern Germany.

"It can't be ruled out that temperatures could approach 42 degrees Celsius," the service, which issued a red alert for most of the country on Saturday, said.

The previous record was set only a day earlier, when temperatures reached 41.3 degrees Celsius in the southwestern city Saarbrücken.

The figures published by DWD are still preliminary and could be revised.

Heat waves such as the current one in Europe are hard to bear for many people.

But certain groups, including elderly people and those without a fixed abode, not only suffer more but face greater risks to health and even life.

DW has this video looking at the challenges faced by such vulnerable members of society, particularly with support services under strain amid the extreme weather : 

From Denmark to Switzerland and the Czech Republic, national records have been broken across Europe on Saturday as the continent continues to swelter in a heatwave.

• In Denmark, the Danish Meteorological Institute reported a new record of 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Odum, north of the country's second-largest city Aarhus — the warmest day since records began in 1874

• In Switzerland, a record of 38.8 C was chalked in Basel, where the borders of Switzerland, France, and Germany meet

• In the Czech Republic, Doksany, north of Prague, hit 40.6 degrees Celcius, the highest temperature recorded in the country

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Moldova have issued highest alert levels for the weekend as extreme heat engulfs the three countries.

Romania on Saturday became the latest country to issue a red alert, warning residents that very high temperatures would arrive from Monday to Wednesday.

Slovakia had already issued a similar warning, saying that the country had experienced record nighttime heat overnight to Saturday with temperatures staying above 26.3 C (79.34 F).

Balkan countries are also gearing up to face sweltering conditions in the next few days.

 

At least 193 million people across Europe are likely to experience temperatures above 35 C (95 F) on Saturday, according to an analysis by the AFP news agency.

That is up on the some 150 million who were expected to see such temperatures on Friday.

Many of those people are expected to be in Germany, where 75 million are predicted to swelter in 35 C heat, while altogether 82 million — virtually the entire population — are likely to face temperatures above 30 C.

AFP says that more than 9 million people in Hungary — again, almost the entire population — will be seeing temperatures of more than 35 C.