'Mind-bogglingly crazy': climate experts alarmed by deadly spring heatwaves searing Europe

[OKIsItJustMe]

Ajit Niranjan
Europe environment correspondent
Scientists warn of ‘new reality’ of heat extremes that claim three times more lives than car crashes and 16 times as many as murderers

Wed 27 May 2026 12.00 BST

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The dark side of a gloriously hot European summer, excess mortality data compiled by experts such as Mistry shows, is an almost unfathomably large death toll – one that society rarely treats as a crisis. In 2024, summer heat in the EU claimed roughly three times more lives than car crashes, 16 times more than murderers, and more than 10,000 times more than terrorists.

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Temperatures over the weekend reached dizzying highs in the UK, which shattered its historical temperature record for the month by a full 2C. The Monday peak of 34.8C at London’s Kew Gardens was followed by a “tropical night” at Kenley airfield, with lows that did not drop below 21.3C, and was beaten on Tuesday with a high of 35.1C in west London. The Met Office said the temperatures would be “exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone in May”.

In France, where Monday highs surpassed 37.1C in the south-west, the national warning system was activated for the first time in May since it was introduced in 2004, and seven deaths were linked to the heat. Météo-France said abnormally hot periods had occurred in the month in previous years, “but nothing comparable to this one”. Spain may endure temperatures as high as 40C this week.

“Early-season heatwaves are especially hazardous because our bodies have not had time to acclimatise,” said Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, an environmental epidemiologist at Imperial College London, who estimates an extra 250 heat-related deaths will have occurred in England and Wales between Saturday and Monday.

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