Climate-Driven Heat Kills 2,300 in Europe

Extreme heat is estimated to have caused the deaths of around 2,300 residents in 12 European cities between June 23 and July 2, according to a new study conducted by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Roughly 1,500 of these heat-related deaths—or 65 percent—were linked to climate change, which has driven up temperatures in the surveyed cities by 1 to 4°C, the researchers found.

The death toll attributed to rising temperatures includes 317 fatalities in Milan, 286 in Barcelona, and 235 in Paris, as well as additional deaths in London, Rome, Madrid, Athens, Budapest, Zagreb, Frankfurt, and Lisbon.

The vast majority of excess deaths—88 percent—were among people aged 65 and older. According to the study’s authors, these findings highlight that individuals with pre-existing health conditions are at greatest risk of dying prematurely due to extreme heat.

Much of Europe endured a prolonged heatwave in the first half of summer 2025, with temperatures soaring to nearly 40°C.

June 2025 was the hottest month ever recorded in Western and Southern Europe, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).