At least 35,000 excess deaths recorded in Europe’s back-to-back heatwaves

critical · Guardian Environment · Jon Henley Europe correspondent · 25 Aug 2026 · 04:00 UTC · Climate Collapse · 1 min read

Summary

Documents catastrophic climate-driven mass death event across Europe, exemplifying climate collapse as a systemic dystopian threat to human survival and requiring urgent archival as part of the documented progression toward environmental crisis.

True figure likely to be much higher as it only covers about half of continent and does not include August totals
At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.
Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.

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climate disaster mass mortality extreme weather European heatwaves public health crisis

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At least 35,000 excess deaths recorded in Europe’s back-to-back heatwaves

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