Spain records hottest January-June period as heat wave causes over 1,000 deaths
More than 1,000 heat-related fatalities were reported in Spain during a June heat wave that made the first half of 2026 the country's warmest on record.
Spain's health authorities reported that at least 1,028 people died from heat-related causes during a June heat wave, the highest death toll for the month since 2015. The Carlos III Health Institute said the figure more than doubled the 407 deaths recorded in June 2025. At the peak of the heat wave on June 23, about 35.7 million people – roughly 73% of the population – were exposed to health risks, according to the national weather agency Aemet.
Aemet posted that June was the second-hottest on record, with average temperatures 3.2°C above normal, and that the first half of 2026 was the warmest six-month period since records began, 1.6°C above normal. The heat wave, which affected much of Europe, produced temperatures above 40°C in several countries and broke all-time records in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and France.
"The first half of 2026 becomes the warmest for the whole of Spain since records began, with a temperature 1.6 degrees Celsius above normal," Aemet posted.
The World Health Organization estimated the European heat wave added more than 1,300 deaths across the continent. Meteorologists attribute the extreme heat to a northward flow of hot air from the Sahara, intensified by a strong high-pressure system known as the African anticyclone, which created a “heat dome” over Western and Central Europe. Experts say human-induced climate change has amplified the event, making it up to 4°C hotter than it would have been otherwise.
Portugal's weather agency issued red heat warnings for western regions, including Lisbon and Setúbal, with forecasts of 40°C in the capital, and extended orange alerts to most of the country as the high-pressure system is expected to move eastward toward Spain, Italy and France.