During the summer of 2022, 70,000 heat-related deaths were recorded in Europe alone. Many more than previously estimated. These figures were published in the journal The Lancet and are based on a calculation method with respect to daily deaths.
The snapshot also refers to 147 regions and 16 European countries representing the entire population of over 400 million people.
In addition, the study establishes that using weekly death figures, as was originally done, leads to an underestimation of the magnitude of deaths. This is true for both cold- and heat-related mortality.
The study also attributes the highest number of deaths in Europe to Italy, with 18,010 heat-related deaths, followed by Spain with 11,300 and Germany with 8,100.