Spain Heatwave Kills 1,029 in June, Second Hottest on Record

(MADRID) – Spain recorded 1,029 heat related deaths in June amid a five day heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, according to official data released on Wednesday. The month became the second hottest June since records began.

Data from the Ministry of Health’s daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed that this June had the most heat related deaths since the same month in 2015.

The average temperature last month was 3.2 degrees Celsius above normal, the AEMET weather agency reported, making June the second hottest on record after June 2025.

At the peak of the heatwave on 23 June, 35.7 million people, approximately 73 percent of the country’s population, faced health risks due to the heat. Of those, 38 percent were in the high risk zone.

Since 1975, 12 heatwaves have been recorded in June, half of which occurred in the last decade.

All 13 hottest Junes since records began in 1961 have occurred in the 21st century. According to AEMET spokesman Rubén del Campo, this indicates that heatwaves at the beginning of summer are becoming more frequent than before.

Between 1 and 30 June, local weather stations broke 165 maximum temperature records, 145 monthly and 20 absolute, as well as 225 highest minimum temperature records, 180 monthly and 45 absolute, AEMET reported.

The first heatwave of this summer was particularly exceptional in the north of the country, not only due to its intensity but also its duration and persistence, the agency added.