The World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that 15,000 people died due to severe heat in Europe. In this, Spain and Germany are among the most affected countries of the summer.
The WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said in a statement that in 2022 at least 15,000 people died due to heat. 4,500 people died in Germany, 4,000 people died in Spain, more than 1000 people died in Portugal, more than 3,200 people died in United Kingdom.
He said Britain was most affected by the continuous heatwave between June and August. For the first time in Britain, the temperature reached 40 °C. The death toll could rise further. Temperatures in Europe have warmed significantly over the period 1961–2021. is increasing at an average rate of about 0.5 °C every decade. In the last 50 years, 148,000 people have died from heat.
