A devastating heatwave has gripped Europe, resulting in over 1,300 fatalities and causing French morgues to reach full capacity, as the continent continues to endure scorching conditions.
On Sunday, central and eastern Europe were still in the grip of relentless heat, with countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland experiencing record-breaking temperatures.
The World Health Organization has reported more than 1,300 excess deaths in Europe since June 21. French health authorities revealed there have been approximately 1,000 additional deaths in the country since Wednesday.
In Paris, Zouhaier Hertelli, manager of the Paris-Orly International Funeral Home (Val-de-Marne), has been overwhelmed with constant phone calls.
Most of these calls come from funeral directors and grieving families, all asking a similar question: Is there space available for one more?
But with all 32 places in his cold room taken, Hertelli reluctantly has to gently say ‘Non,’ over and over and over again.
‘We’re facing a really catastrophic situation,’ he said, adding: ‘I’m getting hundreds of calls.’
This heatwave is the most severe ever recorded in Europe, and would have been ‘virtually impossible’ this early in the summer without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.
People enjoy the water sprayed by a police water cannon in front of of the Olympic stadium Olympiastadion during the ongoing heatwave in Berlin, Germany, June 28
People enjoy the cool waters of the Isar during a heatwave in Munich, Germany, June 28
People shelter from the sun under an umbrella near the Arch of Constantine outside the Colosseum during a heatwave in Rome, Italy, June 28
All-time temperature records have been broken in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as for the month of June in the UK and in Switzerland.
‘We’re dealing with an enormous spike of deaths because of the heat wave and we’re really full, full, full,’ Hertelli said.
Public Health France said there were more than 1,200 deaths last Wednesday, when France registered its hottest-ever day, breaking a record that had been set just the previous day.
Deaths then increased to more than 1,400 on Thursday and another 1,400 on Friday, it said.
By way of comparison, the pre-heat wave death rate in April and May was around 900 to 1,000 per day, it said.
The agency cautioned that its estimate of at least 1,000 additional deaths during those three sizzling days alone is expected to increase as more death certificates come in for people who died at home and in care facilities for older people, where most deaths are still not registered electronically.
‘Mortality will as a consequence be higher than these first figures,’ the agency said.
It said that 85 per cent of the deaths registered so far during the three days it studied involved people aged 65 and above and that there was a sharp increase in deaths at home – up by about 40 per cent – particularly in the Paris region.
Hertelli and others in the funeral industry said Paris mortuaries quickly ran out of storage space.
City Hall said two temporary storage units, with 20 places each, were installed for municipal mortuaries and that city hospitals provided another 50 additional places.
Still, Hertelli said funeral directors he spoke to told him they were having to store bodies as far away as Chartres – 50 miles from Paris – and in other regions around the capital.
To open more space, he said he has asked authorities for permission to temporarily install refrigerated containers outside his mortuary, which is next to Paris’ Orly airport, but is still waiting for a green light.
‘Families are suffering,’ he said. ‘We have no solution to offer them, because the funeral homes are full. So we are deeply affected, we have empathy for them, but there’s nothing we can offer. We are really facing a problem, a big problem,’ he added.
An exterior view of the Funerarium of Paris, in Paris, France, June 28
An aerial view of people laying on a sandy beach and refreshing in Bagry lake as high temperatures continue on June 28
‘Right now, 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling,’ WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
‘Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average,’ he warned.
Storms brought some respite overnight, particularly in France after several days of temperatures close to 40C.
But they also caused damage, as a man died near Brussels when a tree fell on his car, local media reported.
In France, the highest-level heat alerts were expected to ease on Sunday evening, although millions continued to endure sweltering conditions.
Still marked by the 2003 heatwave – Europe’s worst in centuries, which killed around 15,000 people – French authorities feared a rising death toll.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez rejected criticism from opposition deputies over the response, insisting: ‘This is not a fiasco – we were prepared.’
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has called a special cabinet meeting to discuss how to learn the lessons from the recent heatwaves and to prepare for the possibility of more, his office announced.
French weather agency France-Meteo said on Sunday evening it was already anticipating the possibility of another heatwave in July.
Temperatures soared above 40C in several countries on Sunday as the heatwave shattered records across central and eastern Europe.
Poland recorded a new all-time high of 40.5C in the western town of Slubice, according to the national meteorological institute.
Poland’s long-distance rail operator PKP Intercity announced disruption to some of its services, with the public displays at Warsaw’s Central train station showing delays of more than four hours.
Germany set a new national high of 41.7C at Coschen, near the Polish border, surpassing a high set just a day earlier.
The Berlin police used water cannons to help residents of the capital cool off for a second day running Sunday – this time at the Olympia venue where singer Bruno Mars was performing.
One 32-year-old Berliner, Diane, told AFP she had fainted from the heat once already, despite drinking three litres of water.
The Czech Republic also broke records for a second consecutive day, with 41.1C recorded in Doksany, north of Prague. That was later revised upwards to 41.9C.
France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said rising temperatures were clearly affecting marine life and biodiversity.
Speaking from a beach at Wimereux in northern France, CNRS research director Gregory Beaugrand told AFP the warming of the Channel was disrupting the food chain, as ‘fish that like cold waters are disappearing’.
French paleoclimatologist Jean Jouzel told the Tribune newspaper he feared political attention would quickly shift once the heatwave ends.
Urging people to heed scientific warnings, he said: ‘People are closing their eyes – but it is extremely serious.’
A man jumps into the Canal Saint-Martin to cool off during hot weather on June 27 in Paris
People us emergency blankets to protect them from the heat as the arrive at the Olympic stadium for a concert of US singer Bruno Mars on June 28 in Berlin
Following a stormy night, the German Weather Service (DWD) forecasted severe thunderstorms with heavy to extremely heavy rain in some areas throughout Monday.
Emergency services in and around Dresden, as well as in the Görlitz area, responded to multiple calls about fallen trees during the night, while the fire department was called out near Görlitz after a lightning strike.
On Sunday, a large-scale emergency response was launched at a youth camp in Eilenburg, Saxony, due to health problems affecting numerous children.
The children complained of heat-related circulatory problems, according to Der Spiegel.
Approximately a dozen children and teenagers required medical attention and were taken to hospitals, the police said.
Police have launched an investigation on suspicion of negligent bodily harm, the outlet claimed.
