At least 1,147 people in the UK died from climate change-driven heatwaves over this summer, leading scientists and epidemiologists have found.
The UK saw its hottest summer on record this year, with experts saying extreme heat incidents were made more likely and intense by human-induced global warming.
A study led by researchers at Imperial College London used modelling, historical mortality records and peer-reviewed methods to provide early estimates of fatalities this summer.
Heated
The team found climate change, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, increased temperatures by an average of 2.2C, but by as much as 3.6C between June and August.
The heat was responsible for 68 per cent of the 24,400 total heat deaths in 854 European cities or areas over the three months, according to its analysis.
This amounts to an additional 16,500 lives lost, compared with what may have been seen during a summer not heated by human activities – including 835 deaths in Rome, 630 in Athens, 409 in Paris, and 387 in Madrid, it found.
For the UK, there were 315 deaths in London, 52 in Birmingham, 24 in Glasgow and Sheffield, 22 in Edinburgh and 14 each in Belfast, Leeds, Wolverhampton and Dundee, according to the analysis.
Elsewhere, Doncaster saw at least 12 deaths, Leicester saw at least 11, Cardiff saw nine, both Nottingham and Swansea saw eight, and Manchester, Newcastle and Bristol all saw seven.
Life
But the researchers warned that the results of their analysis are only a snapshot of the death toll linked to extreme heat, with the cities and areas studied representing about 30 per cent of Europe’s population.
They also said the majority of heat-related deaths go unreported, while official government figures can take months to appear, underscoring why extreme heat is known as a “silent killer”.
People often die from underlying conditions such as heart, respiratory, or kidney problems that are aggravated by high temperatures, with the role of heat rarely recorded on death certificates.
Clair Barnes, researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, said: “It may not sound like much, but our study shows that shifts in summer heat of just a few degrees can be the difference between life and death for thousands of people.
“It is another reminder that climate change isn’t an issue we can just deal with at some point in the future.
Surges
“The longer it takes governments to shift away from fossil fuels and cut emissions, the deadlier summer heat will become – even with efforts to become more resilient to extreme temperatures.”
Heat deaths reported across the continent included a 51-year-old street cleaner in Barcelona, Spain, and a 47-year-old construction worker in San Lazzaro di Savena, Italy.
The study found that people aged 65 and over made up 85 per cent of the excess deaths in Europe this summer – and those over 85 make up 41 per cent.