Spain records more than 1,000 heat-related June deaths

MADRID: More than 1,000 deaths in Spain were attributed to the recent heatwave that roasted Europe, as the country posted the hottest first six months ever recorded, officials said on Wednesday.

At least 1,028 people died of heat-related issues during the heatwave, the public Carlos III Health Institute said.

The figure was more than double the 407 deaths that were attributed to heat in June 2025, Spain’s hottest June since records started being kept, according to the national weather agency Aemet.

The first six months of 2026 were the hottest in Spain since the start of records, with temperatures 1.6C above normal levels on average, Aemet said in a post on X on Wednesday.

“The seven warmest first semesters… have occurred over the past 10 years”, the Aemet agency said in a post on X.

June 2026 came in as the second-hottest June, “with temperatures on average 3.2C above the norm,” Aemet said.

The heatwave that scorched Europe from late June was the most severe ever recorded in Europe, and would have been “virtually impossible” in June without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.

All-time temperature records have been broken in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as for the month of June in the UK and in Switzerland.

France faced record breaking average temperatures, with the country experiencing its highest-ever nighttime temperatures.