2,000 extra deaths during heatwave
The death rate in the UK soared by more than 2,000 during the peak of this year’s heatwave.
In the ten days between August 4th and 13th there were 2,045 more deaths than usual in England and Wales.
The highest temperature of 38.5C (101.3F) was recorded on Sunday, August 10th, in Brogdale, near Faversham, Kent.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the number of deaths on August 11th was 1,691 – 363 more than the average.
London, the East of England and the South East – which saw the highest temperatures – had 6,044 deaths during the ten-day period, 40 per cent of the national total.
In France, up to 10,000 deaths were linked to the country’s prolonged hot spell.
The ONS said the deaths in France had triggered its own investigation.
“What happened in Britain was nowhere near that scale but it is very suggestive that there is a link between this very hot weather and the rise in the number of deaths in the UK,” said spokesman David Marder.
However, health experts pointed out that death rates can vary from year to year and not all deaths might be due to the weather.
