Germany Records More than 5,000 Deaths Due to Heat Wave

PHOTO. ILLUSTRATION/PIXABAY/ian1550

JAKARTA - Around 5,120 people died in Germany due to the heat since the beginning of summer until the end of June, according to estimates from the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The latest figure has surpassed the annual average of around 2,900 heat-related deaths recorded between 2023 and 2025, according to the RKI report, which is based, among other things, on monitoring death records from the Federal Statistics Office and data from the German Weather Service (DWD).

The institute, which reported on July 9, estimated that heat-related deaths jumped by 4,310 during June 22-28, when Germany experienced its highest heat wave with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the country during the period.

For the period from April to June 21, the RKI estimated 810 deaths related to hot weather. However, an RKI spokesperson said almost all of the deaths occurred during June 15-21.

The elderly are the most affected. Around 2,950 of the estimated deaths as of June 28 occurred among those aged 85 and over.

The figure is around 1,320 among those aged 75 to 84, around 550 among those aged 65 to 74, and around 300 among people under 65.

According to the German Weather Service, June 2026 was the second hottest month in the country since records began, after 2019.

A heatwave in late June saw temperatures above 41 degrees Celsius, while 46 weather stations recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius on June 27.