“The heatwaves just don’t stop. I can’t take it anymore. When we think it’s ending, the heat comes back,” Ayse Gurbuz, a 25-year-old student in Lyon (east-central France), told the French news agency AFP.

By 19 August, France had already recorded 52 days of heatwaves since mid-June—a record, given that summer was not yet over. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe saw all-time temperature highs: 45.1°C in Andújar (Spain) on 22 June, 48.4°C in Orani (Sardinia) on 19 July, and 42.2°C in Slovakia and 37°C in Denmark.

Mortality in Portugal

And with the heat come fatalities. On 6 August, Portuguese authorities reported three periods of excess mortality in recent months, totalling 680 deaths above expected levels.

The Ricardo Jorge National Institute of Health (INSA) and the Directorate-General of Health note that the observed pattern shows that the majority of deaths occurred among people aged 75 or older, with a predominance of circulatory, respiratory, and neoplastic causes.

According to the two organisations, deaths where the underlying cause was coded as exposure to excessive heat represent only a small fraction of the heat’s impact on mortality, since in most cases heat acts as a trigger or exacerbating factor for other conditions rather than the underlying cause of death recorded on the death certificate.

Extreme weather events

Extreme weather events—including periods of near-tropical heavy rainfall—serve as “a brutal reminder of the cascading consequences of the climate crisis, both human and economic,” Simon Stiell, the UN Climate chief, warned in May.

A new habit has taken hold across Europe: anxiously watching the thermometer rise and keeping a close eye on weather forecasts; yet for French climatologist Jean Jouzel, this is the new normal.

“What we are experiencing is exactly what our (scientific) community has been predicting for about thirty years,” said the former vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

On the first day of summer, warning signs emerged from the Basque Country and eight Italian cities, which were placed on red alert due to the heatwave; schools closed, festivals were cancelled, and broadcasts of the World Cup or St. John’s Eve bonfires were suspended.

Between mid-June and mid-August, more than 32,000 excess deaths were recorded in Europe, according to a provisional tally.

The number of people suffering from eco-anxiety has surged to 2.6 million, according to a study by the Eco-Anxiety Observatory.

From Southern Europe to the far north, wildfires had consumed approximately 600,000 hectares by 12 August.

Elsewhere, drought took hold, turning lush green landscapes into desolate vistas; by late July, half the continent was affected.

In France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, soil moisture levels dropped to historic lows.

“Everything dried up suddenly. The only plants that grew were sorrel and thistles,” reported John Pawsey, a 62-year-old British farmer, looking out over his sun-scorched quinoa fields.

Major rivers like the Rhine, the Loire, and the Thames saw their water levels drop; nuclear power plants had to halt production due to water shortages; and the wreckage of sunken ships and equipment from World War II began to emerge.

Groundwater levels—despite being well replenished last winter—began to fall in France, Italy’s Piedmont region, and Spain, forcing several municipalities to bring in drinking water supplies.

Water scarcity is also hitting the agricultural sector hard, affecting corn and sunflower yields and leading to earlier grape and crop harvests.

Even at sea, temperatures soared. In July, the Mediterranean recorded its highest-ever average surface temperature for the month, reaching 27.07°C.

But this extreme summer is merely a preview of the future, warns Jean Jouzel.

“By 2100, there is a strong probability that 2026—if we take that year as a benchmark—will be considered a ‘normal summer ’,” he warns, calling for a “wake-up call.” “We need to understand that we are heading toward a catastrophe if we fail to reverse the trends,” he pointed out from his native Brittany. In this traditionally damp Atlantic province, the thermometer topped 40 degrees several times this summer.