The Heatwaves Project, led by the Urban Journalism Network in collaboration with multiple European media partners and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, examines the deadly impact of extreme heat across European cities. Combining scientific research and local data journalism, the investigation estimates that heatwaves caused 50,391 excess deaths across 854 European cities in summer 2026, with around 65% — more than 32,000 deaths — attributable to human-caused climate change
These findings came in October 2026 from teams of scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Their latest work is being published by the journal Nature Health.
