Europe’s deadly heatwave has pushed east, with hundreds of millions still sweltering across the continent despite fleeting relief from overnight storms, notably in France and Belgium.
The heat remained intense across central and eastern Europe on Sunday, 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 35°C during the day.
The World Health Organization said it had recorded more than 1,300 excess deaths in Europe since June 21.
Overall, some 381 million Europeans were set to see temperatures exceed 30°C, according to analysis based on forecasts from the German Meteorological Service and population data.
Germany, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Austria and western Ukraine also faced extreme heat.
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“Right now, 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, and grids are buckling,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
Storms brought some respite overnight, particularly in France after several days of temperatures close to 40°C. But they also caused damage, as a man died near Brussels when a tree fell on his car, local media reported.
In France, the highest-level heat alerts were expected to ease on Sunday evening, although millions continued to endure sweltering conditions.
Still marked by the 2003 heatwave, Europe’s worst in centuries, which killed around 15,000 people, French authorities feared a rising death toll.
