Seen more and more often, even in Switzerland: an umbrella converted into a parasol. Image: keystone
Extreme weather
July 13, 2026, 3:08 p.mJuly 13, 2026, 3:08 p.m
The EuroMOMO (European Mortality Monitoring) network, which monitors overall mortality in Europe, has announced new figures regarding excess mortality during the recent heat wave at the end of June. According to the network belonging to the European Health Authority ECDC and the World Health Organization WHO, there were around 10,000 additional deaths in Europe in the week from June 22nd to 28th, as the Reuters news agency reports.
More than 9,000 of these deaths were among people over 65 years old. Epidemiologist and medical scientist Lasse Vestergaard from the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, where EuroMOMO is based, tells Reuters of an “extraordinarily high excess mortality rate” for this time of year.
“It is difficult to explain this high value with anything other than the heat,” said the scientist from Denmark. No other factors were observed during this period that would explain the high number of additional deaths. In order to determine excess mortality, the actual deaths in 27 European countries are compared with the statistically expected deaths during this period, regardless of the cause of death.
In older people, the extreme heat can cause death in a number of ways, including causing heat stroke or aggravating cardiac, circulatory and respiratory diseases.
Independently of EuroMOMO’s figures, another study by Imperial College London into excess mortality in England and Wales found that around 2,700 people died of heat-related causes in the two British countries alone during the heatwaves in May and June. According to the study, around 42 percent of these deaths can be attributed to the additional heat caused by man-made climate change. (July)