Researchers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated heat deaths in 854 urban areas that account for around 40 per cent of the population in the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland, using modelling that has previously produced results consistent with official figures.
The analysis, using temperature records and models of the historical relationship between heat and mortality, estimated the number of heat deaths in those areas at just over 50,000.
It far exceeded previous heatwave years of 2003, when an estimated 28,000 people died, and 2022, with 29,000 heat deaths.
The modelling suggests the impact of climate change, mostly caused by burning fossil fuels for power, heating, transport, and industry, is growing.
