Deadly Heatwave Sweeps Europe as WHO Warns of Growing Climate Threat

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in Geneva on Tuesday that extreme heat is an increasingly deadly threat to public health. He said heat is “one of the most severe and growing threats to health and safety posed by climate change,” and noted that about 500,000 people die each year worldwide from heat-related causes, many of them preventable.

His warning came as a severe heatwave continued to grip parts of western Europe on Wednesday, causing dozens of deaths, power outages, and the closure of schools and cultural sites across the continent. Meteorologists said exceptionally high temperatures could last through the end of the week.

Britain set a June record, with the temperature reaching 36.1 degrees Celsius in southern England as a heat dome covered much of western Europe. Paris also hit an unprecedented June high of 40.9 degrees Celsius. A day earlier, France recorded its hottest day since measurements began nearly 80 years ago, with temperatures peaking at 44.3 degrees Celsius in Bas-sur-Loup in the southwest.

French authorities said at least 48 people have drowned since the heatwave began while trying to cool off, and two children died of heatstroke in a car. In Italy, the health ministry placed 16 cities, including Florence, Milan, Rome, Turin and Verona, on its highest heat alert and warned the wave could intensify further, peaking on Sunday and Monday. Spain reported the deaths of two elderly people from heatstroke after several days above 40 degrees Celsius, although conditions began easing on Wednesday after the country logged its hottest days ever for late June.