In the summer of 2026, more than 50,000 people died as a result of an abnormal heat wave in nearly 900 European cities, according to a report by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.
“According to our estimates, there were 50,391 heat-related excess deaths recorded this summer across 854 cities,” the report states.
Excess mortality refers to a temporary increase in the number of deaths compared to the initially expected level due to external factors such as extreme weather events, armed conflicts, or famine.
The researchers note that about two-thirds of heat-related deaths this summer were caused specifically by human-induced climate change.
The highest heat-related mortality rates were recorded in Malta, Italy, and Hungary. The report also notes that in nearly half of the cases, those who died from the effects of the heat were people over the age of 85. At the same time, 883 of the recorded deaths occurred among people aged 20 to 44.
The number of heat-related deaths in the summer of 2026 was nearly double the figures for the corresponding periods in 2025 and 2024.
In May, an abnormal heat wave struck Europe and lasted nearly the entire summer. Temperature records were set in a number of countries. In some countries, temperatures reached—and in some cases exceeded—40 degrees Celsius. Due to the extremely high temperatures, wildfires broke out in many European countries, including France, Spain, and Italy.
