Extreme heat killed more than 50,000 people in Europe this summer, including 4,500 in UK cities, study claims

Researchers at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine blame human-caused climate change for 32,619 of the 50,391 deaths. That is 65 per cent, up from roughly 40 per cent at the start of the century. The team modelled mortality in 854 cities covering about 40 per cent of the population. Their paper is published in Nature Health.

The toll is 71% higher than the 2022 record of 29,480 deaths.

Italy, France, Spain and Germany suffered the heaviest losses, and Rome topped the capitals.

Lead author Clair Barnes said Europe's infrastructure is 'just not designed to cope'.