Belgium logs nearly 3,000 excess deaths during summer heatwaves, health institute says

Belgium logged nearly 3,000 excess deaths during successive heatwaves since June, health authorities said on Thursday, days after this summer was confirmed as the hottest on record in the northern European nation.

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Some 365 excess deaths were observed between 28 July-16 August, when Belgium sweltered under its third heatwave of the season, which also saw the beginning of the country’s worst wildfire in modern history.

That represented a “slight” uptick of 7% more deaths than normal, the Sciensano national public health institute said.

The figure added to a grim tally racked up during the previous two bouts of high temperatures, the institute said.

Belgium logged an excess mortality rate of 49% between 18 June-3 July, with 2,035 extra deaths.

Another 535 more people than usual died between July 4 and 17, bringing the total number of excess deaths over the summer to 2,935, according to a statement.

Earlier this week, the national weather agency said summer 2026 was the hottest on record, making Belgium the latest European nation to smash temperature records this year.

Temperatures in the official national reference station in Uccle, outside Brussels, averaged 20.3C, 2.4C above the mean of recent decades, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI).

Scientists warn that climate change is making extreme weather events more intense and resulting in heat records tumbling more often.

At the end of August, Germany registered a record of around 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer, official data showed.

While Spain’s public health institute registered nearly 4,500 heat-related deaths since 1 June, figures showed, and French health authorities said they had seen more than 7,300 excess deaths over the same period.

Some 33 countries, spanning from western Europe to the Sahel and central America, recorded their hottest July since records began this year, according to analysis of data from the European Union’s Copernicus climate observatory carried out by the AFP news agency.