More Than 1,000 Died in Spain's Heat Wave as Europe Endured a Scorching June

At least 1,028 people died during Spain's recent heat wave, and the country endured its hottest January-to-June period on record and its second-hottest June, Deutsche Welle reported, citing scientists who attributed the extreme temperatures across Europe to climate change.

The pattern extends well beyond Europe. In Iran's Hormozgan province, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the arrival of the hot season brings a recurring public-health threat, with more than 5,000 scorpion stings recorded annually alongside the dangers of extreme heat, a seasonal burden on a region already under economic strain.

For markets, heat on this scale is a measurable economic cost rather than a passing weather event. Extreme temperatures reduce labor productivity, strain electricity grids at peak demand, damage crops and push up food and power prices. Repeated summer after summer, they become a seasonal cost that European economies and their central banks increasingly have to anticipate rather than treat as a single shock.