Climate Change Linked to 1,500 Deaths in Europe’s Latest Heat Wave, Study
LONDON – A devastating heat wave that has gripped Europe since late June is estimated to have caused around 2,300 deaths, with climate change responsible for approximately 65% of them, according to a study released Wednesday by scientists from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The research, which examined the 10-day period from June 23 to July 2 across 12 European cities—including London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Rome—revealed that human-induced climate change effectively tripled heat-related deaths this early summer. The study found temperature surges of up to 4°C above average, driving up mortality across major population centers.
“The findings of this analysis and many others are extremely clear: heat extremes all across Europe are increasing rapidly due to human-induced climate change,” the researchers wrote, warning that rising temperatures are likely to lead to even higher death tolls in the future.
In a related update, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that June 2025 ranked as the third-warmest June globally, citing record sea surface temperatures in the western Mediterranean as a key factor. Samantha Burgess, a senior climate official at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, stressed that such heat waves will become “more frequent, more intense” and pose an escalating threat to public health across the continent.
