Heat during June, July and August 2026 contributed to an estimated 50,391 deaths in 854 European cities, researchers found, according to Associated Press reporting by Seth Borenstein. The researchers attributed 32,619 of those deaths to extra heat caused by burning coal, oil and gas. Their study was due to appear in an upcoming issue of Nature Health when AP reported the findings.
The cities span 30 countries across the EU, Britain, Switzerland and Norway and account for about 40% of those countries’ population, The Straits Times reports. The authors called the toll an underestimate because it excludes cities beyond the study and a deadly May heat wave, according to AP. In the researchers’ series for the cities studied, the 2026 estimate was 71% higher than the previous high of 29,480 in 2022.
These are modeled totals, not a tally of deaths recorded as heat-related on death certificates. The researchers used statistical modeling to estimate the overall toll because heat’s contribution often goes unrecorded on death certificates, AP reports. They then compared computer simulations of a world without climate change with the summer’s estimated deaths to calculate the share attributed to warming. The Straits Times says the study combined temperature records with earlier findings relating heat levels to mortality.
