WHO: More than 1,300 dead from heatwave in Europe, Germany hits record 41.7°C

According to the World Health Organization, the extreme heatwave that has struck Europe has left more than 1,300 victims since June 21, while several countries across the continent have recorded record temperatures.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described heat stress as a “silent killer,” stressing that homes, schools and workplaces in Europe were not designed for such high temperatures.

Europe, according to the WHO, is the fastest-warming region in the world, heating at a rate twice the global average. The organization emphasizes that episodes of extreme heat, linked to climate change, are appearing more and more frequently.

In Germany, the highest temperature ever recorded in the country was registered on Sunday, 41.7 degrees Celsius, in the Coschen area near the border with Poland. New records were also reported in Poland, where the temperature reached 40.5 degrees Celsius, as well as in the Czech Republic, with 41.1 degrees Celsius.

The effects of the heatwave are also being felt in France. Health authorities announced that since Wednesday, around 1,000 more deaths than usual have been recorded, mainly among people over the age of 65. At the same time, the Interior Ministry reported that at least 74 people have drowned since the start of this heatwave, most of them in rivers, lakes and unsupervised bodies of water.

Faced with high temperatures, several European countries have taken special measures. In the Netherlands, the Defqon.1 music festival was canceled, while in Paris some public activities were temporarily banned and restrictions were imposed to ease pressure on emergency services.

Meteorologists explain that this record heatwave is linked to the phenomenon known as a “heat dome,” a mass of hot air that remains trapped over a specific area, increasing temperatures and preventing cloud formation, which fuels extreme heat.