Spain attributes over 1,000 excess deaths to heat in second-hottest June ever

The heatwave exposed 73 percent of Spain's population to health risks at its peak

A person drinks from a fountain rest during a spring heatwave in Madrid, Spain, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

Spain recorded 1,029 excess deaths last month attributable to heat, official data showed on Wednesday, as a five-day heatwave with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius made it the second-hottest month of June on record.

• Data on the Health Ministry's daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed that June had the most deaths attributed to heat since the same month in 2015.

• Average temperatures last month were 3.2 degrees higher than normal, weather agency AEMET said, making it the second-hottest June on record after June 2025.

• At the heatwave's peak on Jun 23, 35.7 million people — roughly 73 percent of the country's population — were exposed to health risks due to the heat; 38 percent of them faced high risk.

• There have been 12 heatwaves in June since 1975, with half of them occurring in the past decade.

• The 13 hottest months of June since records began in 1961 all occurred in the 21st century.

• This is evidence that heatwaves appear at the beginning of summer with a higher frequency than before, said AEMET spokesperson Ruben del Campo.

• Between Jun 1 and Jun 30, 165 maximum temperature records — 145 of them monthly and 20 all-time — and 225 highest minimum temperature records — 180 monthly and 45 all-time — were broken at local measuring stations, AEMET said.

• The first heatwave of the summer was exceptional in the country's north "not only because of its intensity, but also because of its duration and persistence," the agency added.