Europe Suffers Deadliest Summer on Record From Extreme Heat

Extreme heat caused more than 50,000 excess deaths across urban areas in 30 European countries during the summer of 2026, according to two studies published in the journal Nature Health. The research attributed two-thirds of the fatalities directly to climate change, concluding this summer was the continent's deadliest on record. In Portugal, researchers registered 474 heat-related deaths across 14 monitored cities between June and August.