Worrying indicator: 47,000 Europeans died from heat in one year

More than 47,000 people are estimated to have died due to high temperatures in Europe last year, which was the world's hottest year since records began, experts said.

The death toll raises concern in Europe, which appears to be the least affected compared to traditionally warm regions in Africa and Asia, will prompt more effective action to tackle climate change and take the risks seriously.

The study, conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain and published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Medicine, says societies appear to have adapted to rising temperatures.

The research team used death data published by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) to measure the volume of deaths resulting from high temperatures in 823 regions within 35 European countries during the year 2023.

According to the estimates, there were 47,690 deaths resulting from high temperatures in Europe last year, the second highest death rate since such deaths began to be counted in 2015, noting that the highest recorded rate occurred in 2022.

Researchers found that the highest death rate due to intense heat was recorded in southern Europe, where Greece recorded 393 deaths per million people, Bulgaria recorded 229 cases, Italy 209 cases and Spain 175 cases, making these countries the top four in the ranking. Germany recorded 76 deaths per million people last year due to heat.

Greece recorded its warmest winter this year, followed by a heat wave in the country. June and July were also the hottest months in Greece's history, according to meteorological services, making it the region with the most fires.

Greece's civil Defence Ministry warned that half of the country faces a high risk of fires until at least 15 August due to high temperatures, strong winds and drought.

Weather forecasters expect temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius in the region, with wind speeds in excess of 50 kilometres per hour.

Athens, one of the hottest capitals in Europe, can be described as a densely populated asphalt jungle with no green spaces, making it particularly vulnerable to the consequences of heat waves. Indeed, the Greek capital has suffered from high temperatures and raging fires recently that have encircled the enclave and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

In Britain, the Met Office said temperatures reached their highest levels this year on Monday, reaching 34.8 degrees Celsius in Cambridge.

Temperatures exceeded the highest level recorded last year on July 20, which was 32 degrees Celsius, but were still well below Britain's highest temperature on record, which was 40.3 degrees Celsius, in 2022. Monday's temperature was the highest temperature recorded in Britain for 13 years in August 2022.

"This is only the 11th year since 1961 to record such high temperatures," the Met Office said in a statement. "Eight of those years have been since 2000 and six of them have been in the last decade."

Ahead of the limited heatwave, which began on Sunday and is expected to continue until Tuesday, the government warned that the heat could lead to an increase in deaths among the elderly and put pressure on health and social services.