Heat-related deaths in Germany near 12,000 already by middle of summer 2026
Clean Energy Wire / Handelsblatt / Der Spiegel
Almost 12,000 people have died in Germany from heat-related causes so far this summer, according to new estimates from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The institute revised its numbers having received official mortality data from the federal statistics office, which can take up to five weeks. By the end of June, heat-related excess mortality had already surpassed that of any single year since 2016.
This summer has seen record-breaking temperatures across Germany and many other parts of Europe. “At this point, we’ve lost count of how many times the 35-degree mark has been broken this year,” the country’s weather service DWD said, business daily Handelsblatt reported.
The highest number of heat-related deaths recorded before this year was in 2018, with around 9,000, news magazine Der Spiegel reported. In the severe heatwave week of 22 to 28 June alone, when temperatures surpassed 40 degrees in many parts of Germany, the RKI recorded around 9,600 excess heat deaths.
“Temperatures of this magnitude have rarely, if ever, been recorded in Germany before,” the institute wrote. Older people are especially vulnerable during heatwaves, which are becoming longer and more severe as a consequence of climate change.
A broad coalition of over 30 organisations from the climate, agriculture, health and environmental sectors called on the federal government to take urgent action by bringing together experts from a “heatwave summit”, establishing a national, binding heat action plan, securing long-term funding for climate adaptation measures by anchoring this responsibility in the constitution, and decisively phasing out fossil fuels.
Germany’s cities have asked for billions in funding for climate adaptation as they need to implement short and long-term measures to deal with greater heat-related stress. Responsibility for heatwave protection lies with federal states and municipalities. While many states already have heat action plans, as well as climate adaptation strategies, not all do, and there exists no national instrument to coordinate the response.
Climate adaptation is legally binding, but experts see financing as one of the most pressing issues for it to become effective.
The recurring heatwaves and drought also increasingly lead to crop failures and pose major challenges to the country’s waterway transport.