Austria estimates nearly 1,000 heat-related deaths during record-hot summer

An estimated 995 people died from heat-related causes in Austria between June and August 2026, the highest figure since such records began in 2017, according to an analysis released Friday by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES).

The estimate was significantly higher than in recent years. AGES estimated 948 heat-related deaths during the same three-month period in 2024 and 428 in 2025.

Since 2017, estimates for June through August have ranged from 324 heat-related deaths in 2020 to the previous high of 948 in 2024.

AGES stressed that the figures are statistical estimates for the entire period rather than a running count of individual deaths directly attributed to heat.

The methodology also takes into account that the effects of extreme heat on mortality can extend into subsequent days. Because of delays in the underlying data, estimates for particular periods can later be revised, the agency said.

The elevated mortality estimate coincided with Austria's hottest summer in 260 years of temperature records, with new record highs registered at more than 100 GeoSphere Austria monitoring stations.

Temperatures exceeded 41C (105.8F) for the first time since records began, reaching 41.2C (106.2F) at Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in the state of Lower Austria on Aug. 5.

Temperatures exceeded 40C on three days during the summer, while Austria also recorded its highest-ever number of heat days.