Overview

• Spain’s Environment Ministry reported 1,180 heat-related deaths between May 16 and July 13, up from 70 in the same period last year
• The ministry logged 76 red alerts for extreme heat this summer compared with none during the equivalent stretch in 2024
• Researchers estimated 2,305 excess deaths in 12 European cities from June 23 to July 2, attributing about 1,500 to human-driven climate change and finding the heatwave was 2–4 °C hotter due to fossil fuel emissions
• Several cities set record highs, including 46.6 °C in Mora, Portugal, and England experienced its warmest June since records began in 1884
• Vulnerable groups bore the brunt of the crisis with over 80% of European fatalities in people over 65 and women accounting for more than half of the deaths