Germany records over 5,000 deaths from June heat wave

Some 5,120 people died in Germany due to the heat from the beginning of this summer through the end of June, the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute (RKI) estimated Thursday.

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

The institute estimated that heat-related deaths surged by 4,310 during the week of June 22–28, when Germany experienced its most intense heat. Temperatures soared above 40C (104F) in parts of the country during that period.

For the period from April through June 21, the RKI had estimated 810 heat-related deaths. However, an RKI spokeswoman said that virtually all of these deaths took place during the week of June 15–21.

Older people were by far the hardest hit. Around 2,950 of the estimated deaths by June 28 occurred among those aged 85 and older. The figure was about 1,320 among those aged 75 to 84, around 550 among those aged 65 to 74, and approximately 300 among people under 65.

According to the German Weather Service, June 2026 was the country's second-warmest June since records began, after 2019.

The late-June heat wave brought temperatures above 41C, while 46 weather stations recorded temperatures above 40C on June 27.