Published on : 23 Sep 2025, 7:32 am Summary
More than 62,700 heat-related deaths recorded across Europe in 2024
Italy consistently reported the highest toll over the past three summers
Mortality rates rose sharply in south-eastern Europe, especially Greece and Bulgaria
Women and people aged over 75 bore the brunt of the impacts
Researchers call for new continent-wide heat-health early warning systems
The scorching summers of 2022-24 may have resulted in more than 180,000 deaths across Europe, according to new research published in Nature Medicine .
The year 2024, the hottest on record and the first in which the global mean surface temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, saw over 62,700 heat-related deaths across the continent — a 23 per