Susan Abayomi
Belgium recorded almost 3,000 additional deaths during a series of heatwaves that swept through the country since June, health authorities have revealed, as the nation confirmed its hottest summer on record.
The country’s national public health institute, Sciensano, said 365 excess deaths were recorded between July 28 and August 16, a period marked by the third heatwave of the season and the outbreak of Belgium’s worst wildfire in recent history.
The institute described the increase as a “slight” rise, with mortality rates during that period about seven percent higher than expected.
The latest figures added to the growing number of heat-related deaths recorded during earlier periods of extreme temperatures. Between June 18 and July 3, Belgium experienced a 49 percent rise in excess mortality, resulting in 2,035 additional deaths.
A further 535 excess deaths were recorded from July 4 to 17, bringing the total number of additional deaths linked to the summer heatwaves to 2,935, according to Sciensano.
The announcement came days after Belgium’s meteorological agency confirmed that summer 2026 was the hottest ever recorded in the country.
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) reported that average temperatures at its official reference station in Uccle, near Brussels, reached 20.3 degrees Celsius — about 2.4 degrees higher than the average recorded in recent decades.
Scientists have warned that climate change is contributing to more frequent and intense extreme weather events, with heat records being broken more often across the world.
AFP
