Deadly European heatwave spreads east, over 1,300 excess deaths reported

Europes deadly heatwave pushed east Sunday with hundreds of millions still sweltering across the continent despite fleeting relief from overnight storms notably in France and BelgiumThe heat remained intense across central and eastern Europe with the Czech Republic Hungary and Poland hit hard as temperatures soared and records fell At least 191 million Europeans were expected to face temperatures above 35C during the day according to AFP estimatesThe World Health Organization said it had recorded more than 1300 excess deaths in Europe since June 21 Overall some 381 million Europeans were set to see temperatures exceed 30C according to analysis based on forecasts from the German Meteorological Service and population dataThis heatwave is the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would have been virtually impossible this early in the summer without climate change the World Weather Attribution group of scientists saidAlltime temperature records have been broken in Germany Poland and the Czech Republic as well as for the month of June in the UK and in SwitzerlandNot a fiascoRight now 150 million people are living under extreme heat hundreds have died schools are shut grids are buckling WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on XEurope is the fastestwarming continent on Earth heating at twice the global average he warnedEurope is the fastestwarming continent on Earth heating at twice the global average Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat hundreds have died schools are shut grids are buckling Driven by climate change and global warming the phenomenon of thehellipmdash Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus DrTedros June 28 2026Storms brought some respite overnight particularly in France after several days of temperatures close to 40C But they also caused damage as a man died near Brussels when a tree fell on his car local media reportedIn France the highestlevel heat alerts were expected to ease on Sunday evening although millions continued to endure sweltering conditionsStill marked by the 2003 heatwave Europes worst in centuries which killed around 15000 people French authorities feared a rising death tollThe countrys national health agency said Sunday it had tallied around 1000 more deaths than expected from June 24 and warned the figure was likely to increase furtherMany of those fatalities are among those aged 65 and over it saidInterior Minister Laurent Nunez rejected criticism from opposition deputies over the response insisting This is not a fiasco we were preparedPrime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has called a special cabinet meeting to discuss how to learn the lessons from the recent heatwaves and to prepare for the possibility of more his office announcedFrench weather agency FranceMeteo said on Sunday evening it was already anticipating the possibility of another heatwave in JulyRecords tumbleTemperatures soared above 40C in several countries on Sunday as the heatwave shattered records across central and eastern EuropePoland recorded a new alltime high of 405C in the western town of Slubice according to the national meteorological institutePolands longdistance rail operator PKP Intercity announced disruption to some of its services with the public displays at Warsaws Central train station showing delays of more than four hoursGermany set a new national high of 417C at Coschen near the Polish border surpassing a high set just a day earlierThe Berlin police used water cannons to help residents of the capital cool off for a second day running Sunday this time at the Olympia venue where singer Bruno Mars was performingOne 32yearold Berliner Diane told AFP she had fainted from the heat once already despite drinking three litres of waterThe Czech Republic also broke records for a second consecutive day with 411C recorded in Doksany north of Prague That was later revised upwards to 419CFrances National Centre for Scientific Research CNRS said rising temperatures were clearly affecting marine life and biodiversitySpeaking from a beach at Wimereux in northern France CNRS research director Gregory Beaugrand told AFP the warming of the Channel was disrupting the food chain as fish that like cold waters are disappearingFrench paleoclimatologist Jean Jouzel told the Tribune newspaper he feared political attention would quickly shift once the heatwave endsUrging people to heed scientific warnings he said People are closing their eyes but it is extremely seriousThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever