Heat Deaths in a ‘Cold’ Country Are a Warning to the Rest of Europe

Heat Deaths in a ‘Cold’ Country Are a Warning to the Rest of Europe - The New York Times

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Heat Deaths in a ‘Cold’ Country Are a Warning to the Rest of Europe

A June heat wave in Belgium and neighboring countries exposed a lethal lack of readiness. That’s a risk as another wave hits Europe.

Listen · 10:17 min

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!A person’s legs on a hospital bed, surrounded by three people in white medical uniforms.

*Treating a 77-year-old woman for heat-related illness last month at MontLégia hospital in the Belgian city of Liège.

Credit...

Ksenia Kuleshova for The New York Times*

By

Jeanna Smialek and Koba Ryckewaert

Reporting from Brussels and Liège, Belgium

Aug. 15, 2026, 12:01 a.m. ET

See more of our coverage in your search results. Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on Google Agrega The New York Times en Google

Seniors died in stifling apartments. Emergency calls were left on hold. Doctors treated an onslaught of people sick from heat, sometimes in wards without air-conditioning.

These are scenes that played out in Belgium, one of the world’s wealthiest nations, on a recent summer weekend. They are also a warning to Europe.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, yet large parts remain ill prepared. As heat waves scorch its nations this summer, they are killing thousands in countries with strong health systems. In just one week in late June, there were around 16,000 excess deaths, or more people who died than usual, in Europe. Belgium, France and Germany were the worst affected, based on data collected by the European Mortality Monitoring Network.

Belgium, known for cold and damp, not searing heat, had the highest excess deaths in Europe, making it a case study into what went wrong. In Wallonia, the region that makes up the country’s south, the death rate was 77 percent higher than what would be expected between mid-June and early July. Some hospitals were overrun, with gurneys and patients lining the hallways and medical staff working without breaks in the unrelenting heat.

“Each crisis is becoming increasingly severe,” said Yves Coppieters, the health minister for Wallonia. “That’s what we’re failing to anticipate.”

More deaths were recorded in Wallonia, Belgium, at the peak of June’s heat wave than on any day of the Covid-19 pandemic

Expected range

Sources: StatBel (daily deaths); Sciensano (typical range).

Josh Holder/The New York Times

The map shows the region of Wallonia in southern Belgium, and the city of Liège in Wallonia. It also shows the northern region of Flanders, and the Belgian capital city of Brussels, in Flanders.

50 Miles

Amsterdam

North Sea

Netherlands

FLANDERS

GERMANY

Brussels

Belgium

Liège

WALLONIA

FRANCE

LUXEMBOURG

Paris

The New York Times

Jeanna Smialek

is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.

Koba Ryckewaert

is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Brussels.

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