Lorraine Williamson
Spain has recorded an estimated 5,232 deaths attributable to high temperatures so far in 2026, the highest figure since the country’s current heat-mortality monitoring series began.
More than 2,100 of those deaths were recorded during August, according to provisional data from the Daily Mortality Monitoring system, known as MoMo. The figures underline the human impact of a summer marked by repeated heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures.
The MoMo system estimates that 2,147 deaths were attributable to high temperatures during August, bringing the 2026 total to 5,232.
That has already surpassed the previous highest annual totals in the series, which began in 2015. In 2022, an estimated 4,789 deaths were attributed to high temperatures, while the figure for 2023 was 3,035.
What the 5,232 figure actually means
There is an important distinction behind the headline figure.
MoMo does not count 5,232 individual death certificates on which heat was recorded as the cause of death. Instead, the system uses mortality data alongside temperature information and historical patterns to calculate the number of deaths statistically attributable to unusually high temperatures.
The monitoring system is managed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and provides an early indication of the impact that temperature extremes can have on mortality.
This distinction matters because the figures are sometimes described as people who have directly “died from the heat”. More accurately, they represent excess mortality statistically attributable to high temperatures.
Older people bear the greatest impact
The overwhelming majority of estimated deaths this year have occurred among older people.
Of the 5,232 deaths attributed to high temperatures, 5,048 involved people aged over 65. Those aged over 85 accounted for 3,256 of those deaths, approximately 62% of the total.
Women accounted for around 60% of the estimated mortality.
July was particularly severe. An estimated 2,025 deaths were attributed to high temperatures during the month, compared with 1,060 in July 2025.
August’s provisional figure of 2,147 is approaching the 2,172 recorded in August last year, which remains the highest August total since the current series began. The latest August figure may still change as the data takes time to consolidate.
A summer of exceptional temperatures
The mortality figures come at the end of an extraordinary meteorological summer.
A provisional analysis by RTVE using AEMET data puts the average temperature for meteorological summer, from 1 June to 31 August, at around 26°C in mainland Spain, 2.5°C above the 1991–2020 average.
Spain experienced four heatwaves during the summer, while unusually warm nights became another defining feature of the season.
Official AEMET data had already shown the exceptional nature of the summer before August was complete.
July 2026 was the joint hottest month of any kind in Spain’s historical series, tied with July 2022. The average temperature across mainland Spain was 25.7°C, 2.6°C above normal.
It was also the driest July since records began in 1961, with average rainfall of just 4.6 litres per square metre, equivalent to 26% of the normal amount. Murcia reached 44.2°C on 23 July, while Granada Airport recorded 43.9°C a day earlier.
The lessons of the 2003 heatwave
Although the current MoMo series has reached a record, Spain has experienced an even more devastating heat-related mortality crisis in the past.
An estimated 13,000 people died as a consequence of extreme temperatures during the historic summer of 2003, according to figures cited by EFE. That crisis prompted Spain to develop a national prevention plan aimed at reducing the health effects of high temperatures.
More than two decades later, older people remain particularly vulnerable during prolonged periods of extreme heat.
Heat remains a concern as September begins
The end of meteorological summer does not necessarily mean an immediate end to high temperatures.
On Monday afternoon, AEMET stations were still recording temperatures around 40°C in parts of southern and central Spain, including 40°C at Fuencaliente in Ciudad Real and above 39°C at Andújar in Jaén.
The latest mortality figures provide a sobering measure of the impact of Spain’s extreme temperatures so far this year. Behind the records for heatwaves and exceptionally high temperatures is a measurable public health impact, overwhelmingly concentrated among the country’s oldest residents.
And while meteorological summer officially ends on 31 August, the heat risk does not necessarily end with it. With very high temperatures still possible during September, and another spell of intense heat forecast as the new month begins, the final impact of high temperatures in Spain in 2026 may not yet be known.