EXTREME heat killed more than 1,000 people in Spain last month, experts have warned, marking the deadliest June on record for heat-related deaths.
Madrid’s Carlos III Health Centre estimated that a total of 1,028 people died last month amid temperatures meteorologists described as ‘extraordinarily high’ for the time of year.
The figure far exceeds the average of 330 heat-related deaths in June since records began in 2015, according to the centre’s MoMo mortality monitoring system.
READ MORE: New ‘heat dome’ to roast Spain: 44C highs, suffocating nights and extreme wildfire risk on the way
It comes after temperatures in Spain peaked at an average of 23.2C last month, according to data from the state weather agency AEMET.
The figure stands more than 3C above the June average for the 1991–2020 period, AEMET said.
Meteorologists have described the rise as a ‘major anomaly,’ adding that year-to-year variations are typically measured in tenths of a degree rather than full degrees.
According to MoMo, 663 of the deaths last month occurred during the record-breaking heatwave that swept across much of Europe in mid-June.
Spain recorded its hottest June days on 23 and 24 June, with temperatures exceeding 40C in several areas, according to AEMET.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said the heatwave in Spain and across Europe would have been “virtually impossible” 50 years ago, adding that climate change is intensifying extreme heat events.
READ MORE: Recent record European heatwave would have been ‘impossible in June 50 years ago’, scientists warn
Lead WWA researcher Theodore Keeping, from Imperial College London, said: “The science on how climate change is worsening heatwaves is settled.
“Continued fossil fuel emissions are directly responsible for the disruption people are experiencing.”
He added: “The speed of change is startling. Every few years we are seeing heat records shattered in Europe.
“This year it has been in consecutive months.”
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