Europe’s deadliest summer in 26 years leaves 50,000 dead, study estimates

Scientists estimate that fossil fuel-driven climate change contributed to about two-thirds of heat-related deaths across 854 cities in 30 European countries.

More than 50,000 people are estimated to have died from heat in European cities during the summer of 2026, making it the region’s deadliest summer in 26 years, according to a new analysis. About two-thirds of the deaths have been attributed to human-induced climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution.