At least 2,700 people could have died in England and Wales as a result of heatwaves that struck in May and June, according to a study released on Monday (July 13, 2026).

Experts from Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used weather data, climate models and studies on excess mortality during heatwaves to arrive at their estimate.

“More than 2,700 people are thought to have died from heat-related causes during the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales,” a statement said.

“Of those, it’s estimated that 42% died as a result of the extra heat caused by human-induced warming,” it added.

The U.K. and most of Europe experienced two unprecedented heatwaves in May and June, with monthly records set at 35.1°C and 37.7°C, respectively, in England.

“They were extreme heatwaves for the U.K. and for all parts of western Europe, and they’re particularly exceptional for the timing and how early in the year they occurred,” Mark McCarthy, science manager of the Met’s climate attribution team, was quoted as saying in the study.

The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will publish its official estimate of heat-related deaths in the coming weeks, based on death records from recent heatwaves.

The study’s models, “while they are not a measure of observed mortality, they help illustrate the scale of risk associated with extreme heat and the growing threat climate change poses to our wellbeing,” said Lea Berrang Ford, head of UKHSA’s Centre for Climate and Health Security.

The study estimates that around 550 people died as a result of the heat between May 21 and 29, and nearly 2,200 died between June 18 and 28 in England and Wales.

The authors emphasise the role of climate change, which is making heatwaves more intense and frequent.

They estimate that maximum daytime temperatures were 3°C to 4°C higher than they would have been without global warming.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the body responsible for advising the government on climate change, warned last year the U.K. was “not ready” to deal with the consequences of climate change.

In a report published in May, it estimated 92% of British homes could be too hot by 2050 and recommended the government set maximum temperature limits in the workplace, as well as invest in air conditioning for public buildings such as hospitals and schools.

The United Kingdom broke the record for a June temperature for the third day in a row on Friday (June 26, 2026), the Met Office weather agency said, as a sweltering heatwave strained schools and hospitals and drove down business.

A provisional 37.3 C record temperature was chalked up in Santon Downham, a village in Suffolk, in southeast England, the Met Office told AFP, breaking the previous high of 36.9°C set earlier Friday (June 26, 2026).

Before this week, the U.K.’s 1976 record temperature for June of 35.6°C “had stood for 50 years, but — provisionally — it has been exceeded on three consecutive days this week,” said Met Office climate spokesman Grahame Madge.

“Today marks the peak of the heatwave in terms of temperatures,” chief forecaster Andy Page said in a statement.

The Met Office has issued its highest-level red “extreme heat” warning for an unprecedented three days in a row until Friday evening (June 26, 2026).

It has warned of “population-wide adverse health effects” as doctors, teachers and climate experts cautioned that the UK was unprepared for increasingly frequent heatwaves due to climate change.

The electricity grid operator NESO issued a new warning that supply margins could be tighter during the peak demand period on Friday evening due to pressure on the system.

At a market in central London which mainly caters to office workers, street food vendors were struggling to work beside the gas-fired stoves and footfall was down.

“I do just want to stick my face in the ice bucket,” said 37-year-old turkey stall owner Will Evans, sporting a green cooling towel he bought online as a bandana.

Working under a black canopy, the chef said it got up to 5C hotter in his workspace, compared to the temperature outside the tent.

According to Evans, public advice to remain at home and limit travel meant fewer officer workers were buying lunch at the market.

At a nearby fried chicken stall, Rainei Almeida said it felt as hot as 43C due to the fryers.

“It’s going to be a difficult summer for everyone here in the market, the traders, unfortunately,” said the 27-year-old stall worker from Ecuador.

Tourist spots close

Hospitals and emergency services were stretched thin as well, with London Ambulance Service recording the highest number of “life-threatening” emergency calls in a day on Wednesday, driven by the heat.

“Clinical colleagues who aren’t routinely deployed on the front line have been deployed back on the front line,” London Ambulance Service chief Jason Killens told BBC Radio 4.

Meanwhile some tourist attractions and museums in London were closed on Friday due to the red heat warning, including the iconic Tower Bridge and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

The British Museum said it was closing early and warned it “may also temporarily close some galleries”.

Hundreds of schools remained closed or partially closed on Friday, and multiple hospital trusts had raised the alarm after MRI machines and IT systems broke down in the heat.

A wildfire which broke out on Wednesday on moorland near the northwestern town of Glossop was contained by Friday afternoon (June 26, 2026), fire services said.