France saw around 1,000 additional deaths last week at the height of its record-smashing heat wave, the country’s public health agency said Sunday. The head of the World Health Organization warned that Europe is now the fastest-warming continent and needs to do more to protect its citizens.

Heat Wave Impacts

Temperature records were toppled in several countries, wildfires were sparked in Germany, and Berlin police used water cannons to cool down the crowds. The heat wave slowly moved toward eastern parts of the continent, with Germany marking a new record for the third day in a row with 41.7 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) in Neißemünde.

A new study from the World Weather Attribution reported that the record-breaking heat and humidity in Europe this past week would not have been possible without climate change. The rapid study found that the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago and is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.

France reported a surge in deaths last week, including a sharp increase at private homes, especially in the Paris region. There were more than 1,200 deaths on Wednesday, when France was sweltering under its hottest temperatures, increasing to more than 1,400 deaths on each of the two following days.

The increase was sharpest in areas under red warnings of extreme heat, with 85% of the deaths involving people aged 65 and above. The World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average, and that more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since June 21 linked to high temperatures in Europe.

Original reporting: NBC6 Miami — read the source article.