The record-breaking heatwave blanketing Europe shows little sign of easing, and the human toll is climbing rapidly. In Spain, more than 1,000 deaths have been linked to the heat, as extreme temperatures grip the entire continent.
According to Reuters and AFP on Tuesday, Spain's Carlos III Health Institute announced that at least 1,028 people died from heat-related illnesses during this heatwave.
The figure is more than double the 407 heat-related deaths recorded during the same period last year, which had marked the highest average June temperature on record. According to Spain's Ministry of Health tally, this June was also recorded as the month with the most heat-related deaths since 2015.
On June 23, when the heatwave peaked, an estimated 35.7 million people, about 73% of Spain's total population, were found to be exposed to health risks. Of these, about 38% were classified as high-risk.
Spain's meteorological agency (Aemet) said this June's average temperature was 3.2 degrees higher than the seasonal norm, making it the second-hottest June on record. The average temperature for the first half of this year was also 1.6 degrees above the norm, the highest level since meteorological observations began.
Record Highs Across Europe as Climate Change Fuels 'Omega Heat Dome'
The heatwave is spreading beyond Spain across Europe. According to AFP on June 30, record-high temperatures were successively broken in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, and an estimated 190 million people across Europe are expected to be exposed to temperatures above 35 degrees.
Hungary's meteorological agency said the temperature in the Szécsény region near the Slovakian border soared to 42 degrees, surpassing the previous record high of 41.9 degrees set in 2007. In Slovakia, the temperature in Turňa nad Bodvou in the southeast reached 41 degrees, breaking the previous record high of 40.3 degrees.
In France, last month's heatwave was estimated to have caused about 300 excess deaths compared to the seasonal average. Health authorities explained that the earlier and more intense heatwave than usual affected everyday spaces such as schools and workplaces, worsening the health impact.
World Weather Attribution (WWA), a multinational group of climate researchers, analyzed that this heatwave was among the most severe in European history, and that without climate change, such a heatwave in June would have been virtually impossible.
Europe has long been considered a region with relatively low air conditioning penetration. The slow adoption pace has been driven by a combination of noise concerns, worries about damaging the appearance of old buildings, and the perception that cooling is not essential.
Currently, the cooling penetration rate is about 20% across Europe as a whole. France stands at about 25% and Spain at about 50%, far below the roughly 90% in the United States.
