Tens of Thousands of Heat Deaths Due to Record Summer Last Year in Europe

The number of heat-related deaths in 2022 was particularly high, with nearly 68,000. In total, more than 181,000 people died due to extreme heat exposure over the last three summers from 2022 to 2024.

Heat Deaths: Austria in the Upper Midfield

The most affected country by far was once again Italy, as in 2022 and 2023: Over 19,000 heat-related deaths were estimated there for the period between June 1 and September 30, 2024. Spain follows in second place with more than 6,700 deaths, and then Germany, which had around 6,300 fatalities. Greece (nearly 6,000) and Romania (more than 4,900) occupy the fourth and fifth places. According to the study, there were around 1,100 heat-related deaths in Austria in the summer of 2024.

However, the order changes when the estimated number of heat-related deaths is set in relation to the population. Here, according to the study, Greece ranks first with 574 heat-related deaths per one million inhabitants, followed by Bulgaria with 530 and Serbia with 379. Austria is in the upper midfield with 116 heat-related deaths per million inhabitants, exactly matching the European average (117).

In 15 of the 32 countries studied, the summer of 2024 was the deadliest in recent years. In some countries like Germany, Spain, and France, however, the summer of 2022 was worse. Overall, according to researchers, there were slightly more heat-related deaths in Europe in 2022 than in 2024. The regional distribution of heat plays a role, among other factors, with older people being particularly at risk. In Austria, the figures for 2022 with around 570 heat-related deaths and 2023 with 640 were significantly lower than those of the summer of 2024.

2024 was globally the warmest year since the beginning of weather records in 1850. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the global average temperature was, for the first time since records began, 1.55 degrees above the pre-industrial level of 1850 to 1900. Until the previous year, the 1.5-degree mark had never been exceeded.

New Protective Measures Necessary

"Europe is the continent that is warming the fastest - twice as fast as the global average," said study author Tomáš Janoš from ISGlobal. The effects of climate change are already clearly visible, especially in the Mediterranean and Southeast Europe: "These regions are hotspots where the health impacts are particularly severe." The researchers emphasized the need for new protective measures. The scale of the numbers makes it clear "that we urgently need to strengthen our adaptation strategies," explained Joan Ballester Claramunt, lead author of the study. This includes a new generation of Europe-wide early warning systems that combine heat forecasts with health data.

The model "Forecaster.health" was tested for this purpose, which is based on epidemiological calculations and can provide regional warnings up to a week in advance. In Southern Europe, the system even showed a longer forecast period. Especially in areas where most people die from heat, "this opens up a previously unused opportunity to save lives in particularly vulnerable population groups," emphasizes Ballester.

The latest analysis covers 654 regions in 32 countries. To estimate the number of heat-related deaths, temperature measurements and mortality data were used. Previous calculations based on weekly statistics had underestimated the burden by five to 20 percent, according to the information. Therefore, the researchers this time relied on daily recorded data from a European research database, which allowed the models to be refined. These were now applied to the summers of 2022 to 2024 and provided the current figures.

(APA/Red)

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