The impacts of heat on health: How prepared is Europe?

Last Friday (29 November), the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) joined efforts to present a webinar on the impacts of heat on health. This event started with the startling fact that 95% of the fatalities associated with weather and climate-related extremes recorded in Europe between 1980 and 2023 were linked to heatwaves.  

The webinar, aimed at presenting the key findings of EEA’s “Monitoring heat impacts on health in Europe” briefing, went on to explore the varying levels of understanding of extreme heat and heatwaves across EU Member States.  

“Heat has become the human face of climate change.” - Oliver Schmoll, World Health Organisation (WHO) 

Why is it important to monitor heat impacts on health?

EEA’s briefing showcased how heat is becoming a bigger and more serious health hazard, as Europe continues to experience record-breaking summer temperatures, and long-lasting heatwaves. In turn, this results in increased occurrences of heat stress, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and complications from pre-existing medical conditions, which sometimes leads to premature death. This also means that heat is responsible for considerable pressure on Europe’s healthcare systems.

What’s more, high temperatures are bound to keep increasing, and even in optimistic scenarios, 100 million people in the EU and the UK are expected to experience extreme heatwaves annually by the end of the century.

However, as WHO expert Oliver Schmoll explained, the effects on mortality are less severe if heat-health action plans (HHAPs) are in place and implemented. Naturally, the quality of action plans across Member-States varies and they often lack adequate protection to more vulnerable populations. 

Heat Surveillance in Europe 

Europe has been a pioneer in heat surveillance, with many European countries having more than ten years of experience in the subject – France has even started in 2004! Currently, 20 out of the 38 countries in the European Economic Area monitor heat impacts on health and three additional countries are developing heat-health monitoring systems. 21 of these also have heat-health action plans in place, and another four National Public Health Institutes are developing HHAPs.

Nonetheless, despite the activation of HHAPs by many European countries during the summer of 2022, they shown to be only partially effective, as the widely accepted estimate of more than 60,000 heat-related deaths confirms.  

What’s missing?

The EEA report finishes with its main conclusions and opportunities for actions. These include the establishment of surveillance systems for heat impacts on health, the further development of HHAPs with a focus on vulnerable groups, the exchange of knowledge, and, finally, action at the European level.

Mathilde Pascal, from Santé Publique France, highlighted that a pan-EU system for forecasting is needed, not only to produce data but also to make sure we communicate properly. Joan Ballester, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, expressed this same need: it’s vital to have common methodologies across countries, not only for quantification, but also to understand what the real burden of heat during summer is.

Read the whole report for more information and stay tuned for the next Covenant of Mayors annual campaign!