In June, extreme heat in Spain resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 people, as indicated on July 1 by data from the Spanish Ministry of Health’s daily mortality monitoring system.
Statistics show that last month, 1,028 deaths were recorded in Spain due to high temperatures. Compared to May 2026, this marks an 8.3-fold increase in heat-related fatalities, as only 123 people died from the heat during that month.
The newspaper El Pais, on the same day, published system data as of June 30, indicating that approximately 900 people perished from the heat in Spain last month. Either way, these figures make June “the second deadliest month for heat-related fatalities on record” — the Spanish Ministry of Health has been keeping these statistics since 2015.
The publication attributes the high death toll to a “heatwave” that swept across Spain in June. In the 20th century, such events were rare in the country, but their occurrence has become more frequent in the 2000s. This is part of a broader trend: summers are becoming longer and arriving earlier. Additionally, heatwaves are now also more intense and prolonged, notes El Pais.
On June 28, the newspaper Le Parisien reported that France had recorded around 1,000 excess deaths since June 24 amid abnormal heat. According to the national health agency Santé publique France, from June 24 to 26, the daily death count rose from the usual 900–1,000 to 1,200–1,400 cases.
Abnormal heat settled over several Western European countries in late June. On June 27, Reuters reported that residents of French cities were temporarily relocating to air-conditioned hotels due to the intense heat. According to the publication, on June 24, Paris hit a record June temperature of 40.9 degrees Celsius.
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