Record heatwave claimed more than 61,000 lives in Europe last summer

Study finds heat-related deaths increased by 63% in women

Last summer was the hottest recorded in Europe. AP

The hot summer of 2022 in Europe led to more than 61,000 deaths due to heat-related causes, with a disproportionate impact on women, a comprehensive study published in Nature Medicine journal has found.

Between July 18 and 24 last year, a severe pan-European heatwave was proved particularly fatal with 11,637 deaths.

Analysing data from 823 regions across 35 European countries, covering a population of more than 543 million, the research team used temperature and mortality data from 2015 to 2022.

Most concerning was the period from mid-July to mid-August, which presented the highest temperature anomalies and resulted in 38,881 deaths, the study conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the French National Institute of Health (Inserm) found.

A breakdown by country showed Italy had the highest number of heat-related deaths with 18,010, followed by Spain with 11,324 and Germany with 8,173.

When examining temperature anomalies, France was the country with the highest temperature increase, at 2.43°C above the average for 1991-2020.

Temperatures in the UK exceeded 40°C for the first time on record in July 2022.

Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and Spain also experienced significant increases.

Disproportionate impact

A key finding of the study was the disproportionate impact of the heat on women.

Heat-related deaths were 63 per cent higher among women than men, with 35,406 premature deaths in women compared to 21,667 deaths in men.

The impact was especially notable in those over the age of 80, where the female mortality rate was 27 per cent higher than that of men.

However, the male mortality rate was 41 per cent higher in those under 65, and 13 per cent higher in those aged 65-79.

Reflecting on previous heatwaves, the researchers drew comparisons with the severe 2003 event, which resulted in over 70,000 excess deaths, the highest summer mortality ever recorded in Europe.

Joan Ballester Claramunt, first author of the study and researcher at ISGlobal, highlighted: “The summer of 2003 was an exceptionally rare phenomenon, even when taking into account the anthropogenic warming observed until then.

“This exceptional nature highlighted the lack of prevention plans and the fragility of health systems to cope with climate-related emergencies.”

However, Mr Ballester also pointed out that the 2022 event could not be considered an outlier.

He said: “In contrast, the temperatures recorded in the summer of 2022 cannot be considered exceptional, in the sense that they could have been predicted by following the temperature series of previous years, and that they show that warming has accelerated over the last decade.”

Highlighting the inadequacy of current adaptation strategies, Hicham Achebak, a researcher at Inserm and ISGlobal, emphasised: “The fact that more than 61,600 people in Europe died of heat stress in the summer of 2022, even though, unlike in 2003, many countries already had active prevention plans in place, suggests that the adaptation strategies currently available may still be insufficient.”

He added: “The acceleration of warming observed over the last ten years underlines the urgent need to reassess and substantially strengthen prevention plans.”

Dr Raquel Nunes, assistant professor in environmental change and public health at The University of Warwick, added: “The high number of heat-related deaths during the summer of 2022 in Europe highlights the urgent need for action to protect vulnerable populations from the impacts of heatwaves.”

Dr Chloe Brimicombe, a climate scientist and extreme heat researcher at the University of Graz, also voiced her concerns: “This study highlights a key heat risk across Europe but especially to women.

“It demonstrates that heat prevention strategies need to be re-evaluated, with gender and age especially in mind.”

The study projects more than 68,000 premature deaths each summer by 2030 and over 94,000 by 2040, if effective adaptation strategies are not put in place.