Continental heatwave: Fires blaze across Europe

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Europe experienced severe wildfires across France, Spain, Portugal, and Greece fueled by a record-breaking June heatwave with temperatures reaching 40°C. A study predicts over 20,000 excess deaths across Europe from the heatwave period, highlighting the significant health impact of extreme heat exacerbated by climate stress.

bmj;394/jul07_14/e100214/FAF1faJean-Christophe Milhet / AFP / GettyFrance’s civil security service drops water on a wildfire in the southern department of Pyrénées-Orientales, where 700 firefighters battled a huge blaze on 5 July. More than 10 000 people were evacuated.Wildfires in France, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, reported to have razed more than 20 000 hectares of land in total, followed June’s record breaking heatwave, with temperatures reaching 40°C in some European countries. A preliminary study by researchers at Indiana University and reported in New Scientist predicts that there will be approximately 20 390 excess deaths in Europe from the 22-28 June heatwave alone, including 5210 in France, 4543 in Germany, 3163 in Spain, 2709 in Italy, and 862 in the UK.As Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, warned that “heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’—and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures,”1 the Doctors’...