Extreme heat claims over 175 000 lives annually in Europe: WHO

Extreme heat kills over 175,000 people a year in Europe, where temperatures are rising quicker than the rest of the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Thursday.

In a statement, the WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge said, “The WHO European Region is the fastest-warming of the six WHO regions, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate. Across the Region, in its 53 Member States, people are paying the ultimate price. The three warmest years on record for the Region have all occurred since 2020, and the ten warmest years have been since 2007.”