Nearly 10,000 people have died in Germany in 2026 as a result of the effects of unusually high temperatures, AzerNEWS reports.
According to a weekly report by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which operates under Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health, an estimated 9,800 deaths had been linked to extreme heat. This figure is higher than the number recorded during any full calendar year since 2016.
The institute noted that the previous highest level of heat-related deaths over the past decade was recorded in 2018, when approximately 9,000 people died as a result of extreme temperatures.
More than 5,000 of the estimated deaths in 2026 occurred during the second half of June, when temperatures in many parts of Germany approached 40 degrees Celsius.
In June, Germany already experienced a record-breaking heatwave with temperatures of 40 degrees or more in many regions.