The climate we have today is not stable and continues to warm
June 2023 was Western Europe's hottest on record, with scientists confirming climate change is making every heatwave hotter and more frequent. Belgium reported 1,747 excess deaths; Germany 5,120 heat-related deaths; NHS A&E attendances hit record 80,000 in June alone.
- Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record; estimated 20,000+ deaths across the continent
- Belgium: 1,747 excess deaths in June; Germany: 5,120 heat-related deaths this summer
- UK experienced eight days above 34°C in 2023, breaking records from 2020 and 1976
- NHS A&E attendances exceeded 80,000 in June for the first time ever; one ambulance service saw 118% increase in cardiac arrest calls
- Half of UK's cold warehouses are over 20 years old; supermarket refrigeration systems failing in extreme heat
Western Europe endures its hottest June on record with an estimated 20,000+ deaths across the continent. The UK faces its third heatwave of 2023, straining healthcare, food supply chains, and infrastructure designed for cooler climates.
Britain is in the grip of its third heatwave this year, and across the continent, the reckoning has begun. Western Europe just lived through its hottest June on record—a distinction confirmed by scientists on Thursday—and the death toll is staggering. Early estimates suggest more than 20,000 people died across the continent during that single month, casualties of an early summer that broke records with relentless, punishing heat.
The UK Health Security Agency expanded amber heat alerts on Thursday to blanket nearly all of England, signaling that hospitals, care homes, and social services should brace for surge. The Met Office warned that high temperatures would persist through much of the following week, potentially making this heatwave one of the longest since 1976, when a similar event killed 250 people. On Thursday alone, temperatures surpassed 35 degrees Celsius in Surrey, though the month's provisional peak—37.7 degrees—had been recorded in Norfolk on June 26. By Thursday, the UK had already experienced eight days where temperatures exceeded 34 degrees, breaking records set in both 2020 and 1976 by a full day.
Climate scientists are unambiguous about what is driving this. Friederike Otto, a professor of climate science at Imperial College London, explained that the burning of fossil fuels has already warmed the planet by 1.4 degrees Celsius, and this heat is now baked into every weather system. "The heat we have seen this summer is only possible because of the 1.4C of climate change we have to date," she said. She pushed back against the language of a "new normal," arguing that the climate continues to shift as long as emissions continue. Hotter heatwaves like this one are not a new baseline—they are a preview of what lies ahead.
The human cost is already visible across Europe. Belgium's public science institute reported 1,747 excess deaths in June alone, describing the heat as "exceptionally deadly." Germany's Robert Koch Institute documented 5,120 heat-related deaths this summer. These are not projections; they are bodies counted. In France, a nuclear reactor shut down on Thursday due to high heat, and the country's independent climate council issued a stark warning: France is not prepared for the consequences of climate breakdown. The council called for urgent improvements to housing stock—transforming homes from what it termed "thermal kettles" into properly insulated structures—and recommended installing shutters, shade structures, ceiling fans, and air-conditioning units in hospitals, care homes, and schools. Current policies, the council concluded, are insufficient.
The strain on everyday systems is becoming visible. The NHS in England reported that average A&E attendances exceeded 80,000 for the first time ever in June, a new daily record. One ambulance service saw a 118 percent increase in emergency calls for suspected cardiac arrest. More than 1,000 schools across the UK closed or partially closed during the June heatwave, unable to function in poorly insulated buildings. Water companies introduced hosepipe bans across the southeast, restricting about a million customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from Friday onward.
Supermarkets discovered a problem they had not anticipated: their refrigeration systems, designed for climates that historically never reached these temperatures, began to fail. Fridge and freezer units went down across the country, leaving shelves empty and customers frustrated. Rupert Ashby, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, explained that older refrigeration systems pump hot air outside the building, but in extreme heat they cannot dissipate that warmth efficiently. "These systems just weren't designed to deal with this type of temperature because, historically, we rarely had it," he said. A major supermarket chain would need to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to replace aging units across its estate.
Phil Pluck, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, noted that half of the UK's cold warehouses are more than 20 years old with outdated refrigeration systems. The heat has massively increased energy usage and pressure on infrastructure that was never built for this. "As an industry, we are finding ourselves under more and more pressure," he said. He predicted that the way people access food will have to change—open fridge-freezers will become less common, replaced by units with Perspex doors and pull-down blinds to keep heat out. Some supermarkets have already begun installing these measures, a small adaptation to a much larger crisis.
The pattern is clear: infrastructure built for a cooler world is failing in real time. Homes cannot keep people safe. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Food supply chains are breaking. And scientists are warning that without a consolidated plan to phase out fossil fuels, the heatwaves will only get worse. The cost of inaction, France's climate council wrote, is far higher than the cost of transition. But for now, Europe is still counting the dead from June.
Citas Notables
The heat we have seen this summer is only possible because of the 1.4C of climate change we have to date, due to the burning of fossil fuels.— Friederike Otto, climate scientist, Imperial College London
These systems just weren't designed to deal with this type of temperature because, historically, we rarely had it. But a major supermarket chain is probably looking at hundreds of millions of pounds to replace all its older units.— Rupert Ashby, chief executive, British Frozen Food Federation
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
When you read that Belgium had 1,747 excess deaths in a single month, what does that number actually mean? Are those people who died directly from heat, or something broader?
It's broader than direct heat stroke. Excess deaths means the total number of people who died above what would normally be expected for that time of year. Some died from heat directly. Others had heart attacks triggered by the stress on their bodies. Some were elderly people in care homes without cooling. The heat didn't kill them in one obvious way—it created conditions where their bodies simply couldn't cope.
And the refrigeration systems failing in supermarkets—that seems almost absurd. We have the technology to keep food cold. Why would that break?
Because the technology was designed for a different climate. The heat pumps that cool a supermarket fridge are supposed to push hot air outside. But when it's 37 degrees outside, there's nowhere for that heat to go. The system can't work harder than physics allows. It's not a failure of engineering—it's a failure of assumption. We built for the world we had, not the world we're getting.
The climate council in France said current policies are insufficient. But they're not calling for something radical, are they? Just better insulation and air conditioning?
They're calling for both. Yes, they want better buildings and cooling systems—that's the immediate survival question. But they're also saying we need a consolidated plan to phase out fossil fuels entirely. The insulation buys time. The decarbonization is the actual solution. Without it, you're just making the problem slightly less lethal while it gets worse.
What struck you most about this story?
That we can see the failure happening in real time. It's not abstract. Hospitals are full. Schools are closing. Supermarket shelves are empty. People are dying. And we're not talking about some distant future—this is June 2023. The infrastructure we built is already inadequate. We're not preparing for climate change anymore. We're living in it.