WHO Europe: Current Heatwave Is a 'Dress Rehearsal' for Even Harsher Summers

The director of the European region of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Hans Kluge, stated on Tuesday that the heatwave that recently struck Europe represents merely a "dress rehearsal", warning that the situation will worsen in the period ahead, according to DPA, as cited by Agerpres.

"Future summers will be more difficult", Kluge said, emphasising that Europe is warming more than twice as fast as the global average. According to him, heatwaves are no longer isolated events, but recurring crises — increasingly frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting.

"Every one of the summers ahead in which we fail to prepare for them will be a summer for which we will pay with human lives", said the WHO Europe director.

Kluge provided concrete examples from several countries:

• In France, emergency medical calls increased by up to 50% in some cities.
• In London, the ambulance service recorded its highest ever number of emergency calls for life-threatening situations in a single day.
• In Spain, the mortality monitoring system had already estimated over 300 excess deaths associated with the heatwave within just a few days.
• Italy reported five heat-related deaths within 24 hours.

Nevertheless, Hans Kluge noted that "prevention pays off", citing several measures already being implemented across Europe:

• Barcelona has expanded its network of cooling centres, incorporating libraries, civic centres, parks, and pharmacies.
• Paris has activated its well-being monitoring register for elderly and vulnerable residents and has restricted the public sale of alcohol.
• Italy has introduced, in some regions, restrictions on outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day, accompanied by short-time working measures so that workers do not lose income.

Even so, the WHO Europe director called for additional efforts from member states: "More than half of European countries still do not have a comprehensive heat health action plan. This needs to change", Hans Kluge declared.