Spain's deadly summer: Heatwave kills 1,180 in just two months

India Today

4 days ago

Summer in Spain has turned deadly. In just two months, high temperatures claimed 1,180 lives ten times the toll from the same period last year as the country battles an 'event of exceptional intensity,' the Environment Ministry said Monday.The vast majority of victims were over 65, with women accounting for more than half, according to ministry data based on figures from the Carlos III Health Institute.advertisementThe most affected regions were Galicia, La Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria - all located in the northern half of the country, where traditionally cooler summer temperatures have seen a significant rise in recent years.
'This is an unprecedented increase in average temperatures and a significant rise in mortality attributable to heatwaves,' the ministry said in a statement. The period from May 16 to July 13 saw a staggering spike in heat-related deaths, particularly during the first week of July.Like other countries in Western Europe, Spain has been hit by extreme heat in recent weeks, with temperatures often topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).The 1,180 people who died of heat-related causes between May 16 and July 13 compared with 114 in the same period in 2024, the ministry said in a statement citing data from the Carlos III Health Institute. In the period the data covers, there were 76 red alerts for extreme heat, compared with none a year earlier.Last summer, 2,191 deaths were attributed to heat-related causes in Spain, according to data from the Carlos III Health Institute.The data from Spain follows a rapid scientific analysis published on July 9 that said around 2,300 people died of heat-related causes across 12 European cities during a severe heatwave in the 10 days to July 2.- EndsInputs from Reuters