Heat-related deaths in Spain this summer reached the highest level since records began, with people aged 65 and over accounting for 96.5% of the total.
5,232 Heat Deaths, 96.5% Aged 65 or Older
Spain's Carlos III Health Institute said on the 1st that heat-related deaths this summer were provisionally tallied at 5,232, according to Euronews. Of that total, 2,147 deaths occurred in August alone.
The figure already exceeds the previous high of 4,789 in 2022 and 3,035 the following year, the most since record-keeping began in 2015. The deadliest year for heat in Spain was 2003, when an estimated 13,000 people died.
The unusual heat is disrupting livelihoods as well as claiming lives. Potato farmers near Madrid have shifted harvesting to after sunset instead of midday, according to a recent report by the Financial Times, because digging up potatoes from scorched soil can damage the crop.
Despite such efforts, Spain's agricultural output is expected to fall noticeably as the heat and wildfires continue. The Spanish agricultural residents' association said flames spread into orchards, vineyards, farmland and greenhouses, hitting growers of avocados, grapes, vegetables and olives, while a lack of moisture and extreme heat also hurt tomato and corn production.
Not Just Spain — Record Heat Across Europe
Spain is not alone in suffering severe damage from the heat. European countries have released a series of analyses showing that this summer, which ended on the 31st, was among the hottest and driest on record.
Austria's national weather service said the average temperature this summer was 2.6 degrees above the 1991-2020 average and 4.4 degrees above the 1961-1990 average, while precipitation came to only two-thirds of the norm. It said the country set records on nearly every indicator, including highest temperature, most heat wave days and most tropical nights, adding that it was "hard to find the right adjective."
Climatologist Alexander Orlik said that in 169 years of weather observation, precipitation through August had never been this low, explaining that extreme heat combined with dry air sharply raised evaporation rates, which in turn led to soil moisture deficits and low reservoir levels.
Germany was no different. The German weather service provisionally calculated this summer's average temperature at 19.6 degrees, the second-hottest on record after 19.7 degrees in 2003. That was 3.3 degrees above the 1961-1990 average, with an average of 22 days above 30 degrees and five days above 35 degrees.
The heat is expected to persist for some time in southern Europe into September. According to weather forecasting platform WFY24, highs in the first week of September are expected to reach 35 degrees in Rome, 34 degrees in Athens and 33 degrees in Madrid — 6 to 8 degrees above normal.
