Some 5,120 people died in Germany due to the heat from the beginning of this summer through the end of June, the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute (RKI) estimated on Thursday.
The latest figure already surpassed the annual average of about 2,900 heat-related deaths recorded between 2023 and 2025, according to the RKI report on heat-related mortality, which is based, among other things, on monitoring death records from the Federal Statistical Office and data from the German Weather Service (DWD).
The institute estimated that heat-related deaths surged by 4,310 during the week of June 22–28, when Germany experienced its most intense heat. Temperatures soared above 40°C in parts of the country during that period.
For the period from April through June 21, the RKI had estimated 810 heat-related deaths. However, an RKI spokesperson said that virtually all of these deaths took place during the week of June 15–21.
