Europe records over 32,000 excess deaths from summer 2026 heat, Spain and Germany post worst tolls on record
Europe's EuroMomo network estimated over 32,000 excess deaths across 23 countries between mid-July and mid-August, before summer even ended. Spain confirmed 4,947 heat deaths, its worst year on record. Germany's RKI counted 14,000 through August 9. Per France24, RKI.
Europe's EuroMomo mortality monitoring network, which draws data from 23 participating countries, estimated more than 32,000 excess deaths across the continent between mid-July and mid-August, a count taken before summer had even ended. Spain's health authorities recorded 4,947 heat-attributed deaths from May through the last week of August, making 2026 the country's worst heat year since monitoring began, surpassing the 4,520 deaths recorded during the 2022 heat season. Germany's Robert Koch Institute estimated 14,000 heat-related deaths through August 9 alone, a figure already well past the country's previous annual record of 8,900 deaths, set in 2018. Both national tallies were compiled while the season was still underway, meaning the final counts for 2026 will run higher once the remaining weeks of the monitoring period are included. Excess-death counts capture deaths above the seasonal average regardless of cause, which is how epidemiologists track heat's indirect toll on people with heart and respiratory conditions, not just direct heatstroke cases. Britain and Belgium separately confirmed their hottest summers on record this year.