The heat wave at the end of June has led to over 10,000 additional deaths in Europe. This is according to data from EuroMOMO, the European mortality monitoring network.
Germany, France, Britain and Belgium were the worst affected, with mortality data reported in the week between June 22 and 28, when the two-week heat wave reached its peak.
The number of victims is unusually high
Scientists from EuroMOMO, who work with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, report that high temperatures are the factor that has influenced it.
"At the moment in Europe, there are no other obvious reasons that could explain this", commented Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at the Danish State Serum Institute, to "Reuters". "The numbers are really unusual for this time of year", he added.
Germany leads in heat-related deaths
"Politico" published its own data collected from the six worst-hit countries in Europe, according to which the death toll is over 14,000.
According to Germany's statistical office, the country recorded 6,800 more deaths than usual in the week from June 22 to 28. This is also the highest number of deaths compared to other countries in Western Europe.
According to data from the "Robert Koch" Institute 5,100 deaths have been attributed to the heatwave since the start of the year, he said, stressing that these figures may be underestimates.
In France, temperatures reached desert-like temperatures
In France, where thermometers showed more than 40 degrees, images of the Eiffel Tower closed to visitors, tourists bathing in fountains and overheated rooftops in Paris became symbols of the hot weather. On June 24, the country recorded its highest temperature since records began in 1947.
High temperatures, both during the day and at night, led to 2,025 additional deaths from June 22 to 28 - a 29% increase on the previous week, health authorities said. Most of them occurred in people over the age of 45.
For comparison, according to US media, only parts of the Sahara, the Middle East and the southwestern deserts in the US had higher temperatures than the highest recorded in France at the peak of the heat wave.
In Britain, scientists reported that 2,200 people died between June 18 and 28 due to heat-related causes. In Belgium, authorities recorded 1,747 additional deaths during the heatwave, and in Spain - 812.
A new heatwave sweeps Europe
And while last month was the hottest June ever measured in Western Europe, the hot weather continues, putting a number of regions in Europe under yellow and red codes.
In Bulgaria, warming is also expected in the coming days, with temperatures in places reaching 40 degrees, but they will not be extreme, meteorologists note.
On Saturday alone, firefighters in France faced 30 fires, said French Interior Minister Laurent Nunes. According to him, the forest fire season has started a month earlier than in previous years. The warm weather also leads to additional damage in fires caused by human negligence. Flames engulfed the forest around the Fontainebleau Palace, and two people were arrested on suspicion of starting them.
In Italy, the health ministry has put seven major cities, including Rome, Florence, Bologna and Turin, which are visited by millions of tourists in the summer months, under a red alert as temperatures topped 35 degrees Celsius.
But the heat has also had an unexpected negative effect on the local economy. The Parma Cheese Producers Association in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna said cows in the area were producing less milk due to the high temperatures and that it was of lower quality. This is leading to fears of significant losses in the production of Parmigiano Reggiano, which is sold worldwide.
Scientists have stressed that the three heat waves since last month would have been "practically impossible" without human-induced climate change.