After days of record-breaking temperatures, European governments have begun assessing the impact of the heatwave.
As the first health data emerge, attention has shifted from weather maps to mortality figures. France and Belgium have reported sharp rises in death rates during the peak week of the heatwave, while its effects have extended to wildfires in Portugal and warnings of growing environmental damage in the United Kingdom.
In France, the public health authority announced 2,025 additional deaths during the week of 22 to 28 June, an increase of 29.1% compared with the previous week.
The authority noted that the figures remain preliminary, as they are based on electronic death certificates that cover slightly more than half of all deaths in the country.
The data indicate that the heatwave's impact varied by region. In Île-de-France, which includes Paris, deaths rose by more than 62%, while the Pays de la Loire region recorded a similar increase.
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said the most significant rise was recorded in deaths occurring at home, which increased by 91% compared with the previous week — a figure the ministry attributed to elevated indoor temperatures during the heatwave.
The indicators were not confined to France. In Belgium, health authorities reported 1,222 additional deaths between 18 and 29 June, an increase of 39% above normal rates, reinforcing signs that the health consequences of the heatwave extended across more than one European country.
These figures follow a heatwave during which temperatures exceeded 35 to 40 degrees Celsius in areas home to approximately 410 million people between 15 and 30 June, according to an analysis by Agence France-Presse based on data from the European Drought Observatory — a figure surpassing that recorded during Europe's 2003 heatwave.
Even as health authorities began assessing the human toll, the effects of the heatwave continued to manifest on other fronts.
In Portugal, soaring temperatures triggered a wildfire that left 4 people injured, including 3 firefighters, while authorities raised the alert level to red across most of the country amid forecasts of temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius over the weekend.
In the United Kingdom, the Met Office warned that a marine heatwave that has persisted for months could reach "extreme" levels next week, after waters off north-west Europe recorded temperatures normally associated with August. The agency warned this could affect ecosystems and fish stocks, according to the British news agency PA Media.
Experts say record temperatures are expected to have wide-ranging effects on global weather patterns, climate, and ecosystems, leading to shifts in fish populations and damage to numerous species.
Recent developments indicate that the consequences of the heatwave are no longer limited to the record temperatures Europe experienced in recent days, but are beginning to appear gradually in health and environmental indicators, as authorities in several countries continue to assess the full scale of the damage while forecasts point to a renewed rise in temperatures across parts of the continent.