Heat now kills tens of thousands in Europe each year, a major report finds

What happened

The Lancet Countdown, a long-running project that tracks how climate change affects health, has published its 2026 report on Europe in the journal The Lancet Public Health. It is the third European edition, and it follows 43 separate indicators, with seven new ones added this year, drawing on data up to 2025. The findings on heat are the ones that stand out. Almost every part of Europe the report covers, 823 regions out of 826, or 99.6 per cent, saw more deaths linked to heat in the decade 2015 to 2024 compared with 1991 to 2000. Across the continent, the average increase worked out at 52 extra heat-related deaths per million people each year. In 2024 alone, the report puts the estimated number of heat-attributable deaths in Europe at around 62,000. Other indicators point the same way. Daily heat health warnings for extreme heat rose by 318 per cent over that same period. The estimated risk of dengue outbreaks in Europe rose by 297 per cent for 2015 to 2024 compared with a 1981 to 2010 baseline. Pollen seasons got longer, and food insecurity worsened. The report's subtitle is blunt: a narrowing window for decisive health action.

Why this matters

Heat does not feel like a health emergency while it is happening. That is precisely what makes it dangerous. Most people who die in a heatwave do not die of heatstroke in the street. They die at home, days into a hot spell, of heart or breathing problems that heat has quietly made worse. It rarely appears on a death certificate as heat. That is why these figures are estimates, and why heat deaths are so easily overlooked. The people most at risk are the ones least likely to be out complaining about the weather: people over 75, people living alone, people with heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease or dementia, and people taking certain regular medicines. The UK is not exempt. British homes are built to hold heat in, which is exactly what you do not want in August. Many older properties have no way to cool down at night, and nights that stay warm are what stop the body recovering. The practical point is that these deaths are largely preventable. Heat is one of the few health risks where simple, cheap actions genuinely work.

What the evidence actually says

It is worth being clear about what kind of numbers these are. The 62,000 figure is a modelled estimate, not a count of certificates. Researchers compare deaths during hot periods with the number that would have been expected at normal temperatures, and attribute the difference to heat. It is a well-established method, used across public health, but it produces a range rather than a precise tally. The strength of the finding is not really the single number. It is the consistency. When 99.6 per cent of the regions studied move in the same direction over a decade, that is not noise. The report also does something useful by looking beyond deaths, at warnings issued, at working hours lost, at pollen seasons and at conditions for mosquito-borne disease. Health is affected long before anyone dies. One honest caveat: this is a report by researchers who explicitly campaign for climate action, and it says so. That does not make its data wrong, and it is published in a peer-reviewed journal. But readers are entitled to know the framing, and the strongest parts of the report are the measured indicators rather than the policy language around them.

Qurexa perspective

There is one part of this that we deal with directly, and it is worth a plain word about it. Heat affects medicines. Most medicines are meant to be stored below 25 degrees Celsius, and some, such as insulin and certain injections, need to be kept in a fridge. In a hot week, a car parked in the sun, a windowsill, or a conservatory can easily go well past that. That matters for how prescriptions are handled and stored, and it is one of the reasons we take delivery timing and storage seriously rather than treating a medicine like a parcel. It also matters at your end. If your medicines have been sitting somewhere hot for a long period, do not simply hope for the best. Ask your pharmacist. They will tell you honestly whether it is still fine, and it is a quick conversation. Some common medicines also change how your body copes with heat. Water tablets, some blood pressure medicines, some antidepressants and some medicines for Parkinson's can affect how you sweat or how much fluid you hold. That is not a reason to stop taking them. It is a reason to be extra careful in hot weather, and to ask your pharmacist what applies to you.

Practical advice

When a heat health alert is issued, treat it the way you would treat a snow warning: as a signal to change what you do. Keep your home cooler. Close curtains and blinds on the sunny side during the day. Open windows at night if it is safe to do so. Use the coolest room in the house, often downstairs or north-facing, and sleep there if you need to. Drink water regularly, before you feel thirsty. Thirst is a late signal, and it becomes less reliable as people get older. Avoid being outside in the hottest part of the day, roughly 11am to 3pm. If you exercise, move it to early morning or evening. Check on people. This is the single most effective thing on this list. Ring or call in on older neighbours and relatives, particularly anyone living alone, every day during a hot spell. Look at whether the house is stifling, whether they are drinking, and whether they seem confused, because confusion is an early warning sign. Know when it is urgent. Ring 999 if someone is confused, has stopped sweating, has a very high temperature, has a fit, or loses consciousness. Heatstroke is a medical emergency. And store your medicines somewhere cool and dry. Not the bathroom, not the car, not the windowsill.

What to know

The 2026 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown finds that heat-related deaths have risen in almost every European region studied, with an estimated 62,000 deaths attributable to heat in 2024, and heat health warnings up more than threefold over a decade. The people most at risk are older people, people living alone, and people with long-term conditions, and most of the harm happens quietly at home. The good news is that the protective actions are simple, free and effective: keep the house cool, drink water, avoid the midday sun, store medicines properly, and check on the people around you. Sources: The Lancet Public Health, 'The 2026 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: narrowing window for decisive health action', September 2026, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(26)00025-3/fulltext ; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 'New Lancet Europe report shows increase in heat-attributable deaths and ballooning energy costs from fossil fuels', 2026, https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/new-lancet-europe-report-shows-increase-in-heatattributable-deaths-and-ballooning-energy-costs-from-fossil-fuels ; PreventionWeb, 'Lancet Europe report shows increase in heat-attributable deaths and ballooning energy costs from fossil fuels', 2026, https://www.preventionweb.net/news/lancet-europe-report-shows-increase-heat-attributable-deaths-and-ballooning-energy-costs This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. Never stop or change a prescribed medicine because of hot weather without speaking to your clinician or pharmacist first.