Europe's deadly heatwave linked to 1,300 deaths as WHO issues stark warning

According to reports, temperature records continued to tumble across the continent, with countries including Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic experiencing soaring temperatures.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on X that Europe is warming at an alarming pace.

"Europe is the fastest-warming 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," he wrote.

He added that "more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since 21 June linked to high temperatures in Europe," describing heatwaves as a "silent killer."

Tedros also noted that many homes, workplaces and schools across Europe were not designed to withstand such extreme temperatures.

According to a BBC report, France's Health Ministry said on Sunday that the country had recorded around 1,000 more deaths than expected since Wednesday, with many linked to the intense heat.

Germany experienced its hottest day on record for the third consecutive day, with preliminary data showing temperatures reaching 41.7°C in the eastern part of the country, the BBC reported.

'Fingerprints of the climate crisis'

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said the ongoing heatwave bore the "fingerprints of the climate crisis all over it."

He warned that "until humanity stops burning coal, oil and gas, extreme heat will keep getting worse," urging countries to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, protect forests and strengthen climate resilience.

The heatwave is expected to expand across large parts of western, central and southern Europe over the next two weeks, according to a regional climate monitoring centre that is part of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) network.

Forecasts indicate temperatures ranging from 3°C to 10°C above the seasonal average, with daily maximum temperatures expected to exceed 35°C in many areas. Some locations in southwestern Europe could see temperatures climb above 40°C.