Study estimates over 50,000 excess deaths from heat in Europe in summer 2026

On October 23, 2026, Skift Feed reported that two peer-reviewed studies soon to be published in Nature Health estimate that extreme heat in European towns and cities in summer 2026 caused more than 50,000 excess deaths, with climate change as the main cause. Among them, an analysis by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine of 854 urban areas in 30 countries showed that climate change caused by fossil fuel burning accounted for about two-thirds of the estimated heat deaths this summer. The report did not mention the studies' specific breakdown of death figures, details of statistical methodology, or the formal publication dates of the studies.