BBC News, Arabic Go to content Main watch listen Main sections News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts World Cup 2026 Investigations News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts World Cup 2026 Investigations The heat wave continues to sweep Europe, with the World Health Organization linking it to over 1300 deaths. Reuters image
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that the unprecedented heat wave that Europe has been experiencing since the beginning of summer may be responsible for hundreds of additional deaths.
New record temperatures were recorded across the continent on Sunday, including in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, as the extreme heat wave continued to extend eastwards.
In a post on the platform X, the Director of the World Health Organization talked about over 1,300 deaths recorded since June 21 due to "rising temperatures in Europe".
He stated that homes, workplaces, and schools in Europe "were not designed to withstand such conditions".
On Sunday morning, the French Ministry of Health announced that the number of deaths in the country increased by about a thousand cases above the normal level since Wednesday.
According to the ministry, most of the additional deaths were recorded among those over the age of sixty-five, following a 40 percent increase in the number of deaths at home.
Tedros warned that "Europe is the fastest warming continent on Earth, with its temperature rising at twice the global average".
He added that millions of people in Europe "are currently living under extreme heat, with hundreds dying, schools closing, and electricity networks under severe strain".
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Preliminary readings showed that Germany recorded, on Sunday, the highest temperature in its history for the third consecutive day, reaching 41.7 degrees Celsius in the east of the country.
At the Koshin monitoring station near the Polish border in eastern Brandenburg, a temperature of 41.7 degrees Celsius was recorded around four o'clock in the afternoon local time.
In the Czech Republic, the country recorded its second new temperature record in two days, reaching 41.1 degrees Celsius in Doksany, north of Prague, according to the Czech Institute of Hydrometeorology.
The institute expected temperatures to peak on Sunday, with forecasts of storms in the western regions later.
Poland recorded a new record of 40.5 degrees Celsius in the city of Słobitce in the west of the country, according to Agence France-Presse citing the National Institute of Meteorology.
Tedros confirmed that climate change is behind these extreme weather conditions, warning that Europe is experiencing temperature increases at "twice the global average".
He added, "Due to climate change and global warming, heat waves that were previously considered a phenomenon occurring once per generation now recur almost every year".
He called on European countries to "implement health action plans to deal with heatwaves" as part of efforts to protect public health in the face of climate change.
These extreme weather conditions have pushed European authorities to take exceptional measures to reduce heat-related illnesses.
In the Netherlands, the "Defqon 1" music festival was canceled on Thursday after an unprecedented red-level warning issued due to extreme heat.
In Paris, authorities imposed a ban on alcohol consumption in public places, and the pride march was canceled in an effort to ease the pressure on emergency services.
The ban started on Friday afternoon local time, ahead of the match between France and Norway in the World Cup, and lasted until Sunday morning.
The French Minister of Interior, Laurent Nuñez, reported that at least 74 people have drowned since the heat wave began.
He indicated that most of the deaths occurred "largely in uncontrolled water bodies: rivers, lakes, and ponds in particular", in statements to the newspaper "Le Parisien" on Saturday.
The record heat wave in June has been attributed to a phenomenon known as the "heat dome".
This weather pattern occurs when air descends from the upper layers of the atmosphere, compressing and warming as it reaches the surface.