Heatwave: WHO says Europe's readiness for extreme heat falls short

The World Health Organization has warned that Europe must be better prepared for further "deadly weeks" of extreme heat. The next heatwave is already building over the Atlantic. Portugal and southern Spain are forecast to reach 43°C this week, while France and the Benelux are bracing for another heat surge. Parts of Central Asia are also experiencing 40°C heat. And Europe is not prepared, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, warned in a statement on Tuesday. Not even half of the countries in the European Region have plans on how to address heat-health risks when temperatures soar — named by the WHO as national Heat-health Action Plans — Kluge warned. WHO Europe chief stressed the need for all countries to have such plans which would cover meteorological early warnings, outreach to groups at increased risk and coordination between health, occupational health, social care, housing and urban planning authorities. “Countries with well-functioning plans know in advance who is responsible for what, which populations are most at risk, and at which temperature threshold each level of response is activated,” Kluge said, adding that having this clarity before a heatwave arrives is the "life-saving difference" between a managed response and a reactive one. “The work now is on two fronts,” he said. “Fixing what failed in recent weeks before the next heatwave hits and building the kind of health systems that don’t just respond to extreme heat but are ready for it,” he said. Preliminary data from Western Europe point to more than 4,000 additional deaths as soaring June temperatures strained health systems. To not repeat the same scenario, Kluge had convened an emergency call on extreme heat, with representatives from 41 European countries, the European Commission and civil society groups to analyse lessons learned from the previous heatwave. The WHO Europe chief praised initiatives such as the Italian mortality surveillance system, Spain’s media communication strategy and Austria’s updated heat plan. “These examples matter because they are replicable,” Kluge said, emphasising that tools exist. “When plans are in place and tested before a crisis, they save lives,” he said.