Overview

• On August 13, the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s Commission for Climate and Health formally designated extreme meteorological events in the European Region as a public health emergency.
• The commission reported a 30 percent increase in heat-related mortality over the past two decades, totaling more than 100,000 excess deaths and warning of further increases.
• Locally transmitted dengue cases in the EU and the European Economic Area climbed by 368 percent between 2022 and 2024, highlighting evolving infectious disease risks.
• Spain recorded its warmest start to August since 1977 with numerous stations above 40 °C and several exceeding 45 °C, while Finland and Sweden endured prolonged high temperatures and consecutive tropical nights.
• Rapid attribution analyses link these extreme heatwaves to human-driven warming and report that hospitals face overcrowded emergency rooms, canceled surgeries and strains on cooling and IT systems.