One week of extreme heat in Europe linked to 16,000 excess deaths: Report

Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit across large parts of Spain and Italy in late June Around 16,000 more people than usual died across Europe during a week of extreme heat in late June, according to a report based on European mortality data. The sharp rise in deaths came as temperatures surged across much of the continent.According to The European Mortality Monitoring Network (EuroMOMO) report cited by New York Times, most of the excess deaths were recorded in northern Europe, particularly France, Belgium and Germany, where populations are less accustomed to prolonged extreme heat. These countries are generally less accustomed to extreme heat than southern Europe and have fewer systems in place to cope with prolonged high temperatures.Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit across large parts of Spain and Italy in late June. However, the sharpest increase in deaths was recorded in north-western Europe, where temperatures were far above seasonal norms.The scale of the mortality spike stood out against the usual pattern in Europe, where excess deaths are more commonly recorded during winter because of respiratory illnesses. The NYT reported that the number of excess de...