Death toll climbs as rising temperatures keep Europe boiling, no relief in sight

THither is no signalling that Europeans ar getting ease from the record-breaking heatwave anytime shortly, with the list of deaths mounting with each passing day as the continent battles soaring temperatures.In France, 2,025 excess deaths were recorded in the last week of June as compared to the week before due to heatwave."There were around 2,025 additional deaths for the week of June 22 to 28 compared with the previous week," the country's health minister Stephanie Rist informed the media. She added that the tally was expected to rise further.Also read: Govt to summon Meta over Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse material: SourcesPublic Health France said that this amounted to an increase of 29.1 percent in deaths as compared to the previous week and warned that these numbers were probably "an underestimate"."Although we are seeing a clear rise among 45-64-year-olds, people aged 65 and over account for the largest share of deaths," Public Health France said, reported news agency AFP.⅔ of Europe's population saw temperatures over 35 degrees CelsiusSweltering under a persistent heatwave, a region of Europe that houses two-thirds of the continent's population experienced temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius at least in second half of June, from June 15-30, amid the ongoing heatwave, according to an analysis by AFP.Also read: 'An exception...': Why Supreme Court refused to send Sonam Raghuvanshi back to jailThe calculations were done using data from the European Drought Observatory and population figures from the Joint Research Centre.Last time people experienced such soaring temperatures in Europe was over two decades back in August 2003 during an intense 16-day heatwave, the report added.The 2003 heatwave led to approximately 15,000 deaths in France. While the current heatwave is seemingly more brutal, its consequences have been far less severe so far, according to authorities."It will probably not be comparable," Rist said.Death tolls mount across EuropeIn Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, some 3,700 excess deaths have been recorded in the month of June amid the heatwave, which, the authorities have said, may rise.Also read: Biryani, video call, ‘gift awaiting’, then suicide: Hyderabad club dancer found dead in hotel roomThe worst ever heatwave in Europe was recorded between June 20-28 which led to not just more deaths, but intense pressure on healthcare systems and medical facilities, crippling of power generation and damage to infrastructure.In Belgium, 39 per cent more deaths were recorded between June 18 and 29, according to health authorities, with around 1,222 excess deaths recorded during that period.Around half of this figured accounted for people aged 85 or above.“Such a level of excess mortality during a heatwave is unprecedented in our country,” said Belgium's health ministry.(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)