WHO chief warns Europe heatwave linked to 1,300 excess deaths

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Sunday that extreme heat may be responsible for hundreds of additional deaths across Europe.

"More than 1300 excess deaths have been recorded since 21 June linked to high temperatures in Europe," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

"Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average. Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling," he wrote.

"Driven by climate change and global warming, the phenomenon of the 'once-in-a-generation' heatwave is now occurring nearly annual. We were warned."

Temperature records have been broken across Europe this week, including in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, with the mercury reaching around or above 40 degrees Celsius.

Tedros said heat stress was often called "the silent killer" and that European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures.

Earlier in the week, Tedros warned around 500,000 people die each year worldwide from heat-related causes, adding that many of those deaths could be prevented.