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The 2003 European heat wave saw the hottest summer recorded in Europe since at least 1540.
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
was hit especially hard. The
heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
led to health crises in several countries and combined with
drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
to create a
crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...
shortfall in parts of
Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alb ...
. The death toll has been estimated at more than 70,000. The predominant heat was recorded in July and August, partly a result of the western European
seasonal lag Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum insolation (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the mini ...
from the maritime influence of the Atlantic warm waters in combination with hot continental air and strong southerly winds.


By country


France

In France, 14,802 heat-related deaths (mostly among the elderly) occurred during the heat wave, according to the French National Institute of Health. France does not commonly have very hot summers, particularly in the northern areas, but eight consecutive days with temperatures of more than were recorded in Auxerre, Yonne in early August 2003. Because of the usually relatively mild summers, most people did not know how to react to very high temperatures (for instance, with respect to rehydration). Most single-family homes and residential facilities were not equipped with central
air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
. While contingency plans were made for a variety of natural and man-made catastrophes, high temperatures had rarely been considered a major hazard. The catastrophe occurred in August, a month in which many people, including government ministers and physicians, are on holiday. Many bodies were not claimed for many weeks because relatives were on holiday. A refrigerated warehouse outside Paris was used by undertakers as they did not have enough space in their own facilities. On 3 September 2003, 57 bodies were still left unclaimed in the Paris area, and were buried. The high number of deaths can be explained by the conjunction of seemingly unrelated events. Most nights in France are cool, even in summer. As a consequence, houses (usually of stone, concrete, or brick construction) do not warm too much during the daytime and radiate minimal heat at night, and air conditioning is usually unnecessary. During the heat wave, temperatures remained at record highs even at night, breaking the usual cooling cycle. Elderly people living by themselves had never faced such extreme heat before and did not know how to react or were too mentally or physically impaired by the heat to make the necessary adaptations themselves. Elderly people with family support or those residing in nursing homes were more likely to have others who could make the adjustments for them. This led to unexpected survival rates with the weakest group having fewer deaths than the more physically fit; most of the heat victims came from the group of elderly not requiring constant medical care, or those living alone, without frequent contact with immediate family. That shortcomings of the nation's health system could allow such a death toll is a controversy in France. The administration of
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howev ...
laid the blame on families who had left their elderly behind without caring for them, the 35-hour workweek, which affected the amount of time doctors could work, and family practitioners vacationing in August. Many companies traditionally closed in August, so people had no choice about when to vacation. Family doctors were still in the habit of vacationing at the same time. It is not clear that more physicians would have helped, as the main limitation was not the health system, but locating old people needing assistance. The opposition, as well as many of the editorials of the French local press, blamed the administration. Many blamed Health Minister Jean-François Mattei for failing to return from his vacation when the heat wave became serious, and his aides for blocking emergency measures in public hospitals (such as the recalling of physicians). A particularly vocal critic was Dr.  Patrick Pelloux, head of the union of emergency physicians, who blamed the Raffarin administration for ignoring warnings from health and emergency professionals and trying to minimize the crisis. Mattei lost his ministerial post in a cabinet reshuffle on 31 March 2004. Not everyone blamed the government. "The French family structure is more dislocated than elsewhere in Europe, and prevailing social attitudes hold that once older people are closed behind their apartment doors or in nursing homes, they are someone else's problem", said Stéphane Mantion, an official with the
French Red Cross The French Red Cross (french: Croix-Rouge française), or the CRF, is the national Red Cross Society in France founded in 1864 and originally known as the ''Société française de secours aux blessés militaires'' (SSBM). Recognized as a public ...
. "These thousands of elderly victims didn't die from a heat wave as such, but from the isolation and insufficient assistance they lived with day in and out, and which almost any crisis situation could render fatal." Moreover, the French episode of heat wave in 2003 shows how heat wave dangers result from the intricate association of natural and social factors. Although research established that heat waves represent a major threat for public health, France had no policy in place. Until the 2003 event, heat waves were a strongly underestimated risk in the French context, which partly explains the high number of victims. Below are statistics for the month of August 2003 in France. The 2003 heatwave served as a wake-up call for many cities to take action on reducing climate risks in urban areas. The following year, the country drew up the National Heat Wave Plan built on national forecasting and alert systems. Despite hotter summers since, the death toll has been significantly lowered. In addition to a major effort to issue warning messages in time, the plan includes measures such as cooling rooms at senior centers, replacing tarmac at playgrounds with more heat reflective materials, and mandatory insulation in construction regulation. This reflects a growing awareness of the benefit of an integrated response to risks like heatwaves, compared to stand-alone technologies and projects and greater attention paid to green and blue infrastructure in city planning. Since 2012, French construction standards for new buildings and, to a lesser extent for existing buildings, have included requirements regarding comfort during heatwaves. In Paris, adding parks and green spaces has been another key solution to heatwaves. Urban greening is most effective when green spaces are watered during a heatwave. Doing so increases the cooling effect from
evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transp ...
.


Portugal

In Portugal, there were an estimated 1,953 excess deaths (data corrected, range 1,866 to 2,039); 43% higher than the expected number for that year. 1 August 2003 was the hottest day in centuries, with night temperatures well above . At dawn that same day, a freak storm developed in the southern region of the country. Over the next week, a hot, strong '' sirocco'' wind contributed to the spread of extensive forest-fires. Five percent of Portugal's countryside and 10% of the forests (215,000 hectares or an estimated ), were destroyed, and 18 people died in the flames. In
Amareleja Amareleja ( or ) is a Portuguese civil parish of the municipality of Moura, in the district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 2,564, in an area of 108.56 km². History Archeological vestiges from the Roman epoch are found in the north o ...
, one of the hottest cities in Europe, temperatures reached as high as .


Luxembourg

In Findel,
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, the temperature reached between 8 and 12 August, making it the country's highest temperature since records began in 1947.


Netherlands

About 1,500 heat-related deaths occurred in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, again largely the elderly. The heat wave broke no records, although four tropical weather-designated days in mid-July, preceding the official wave, are not counted due to a cool day in between and the nature of the Netherlands specification/definition of a heat wave. The highest temperature recorded this heatwave was on 7 August, when in
Arcen Arcen (; li, Árse) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. In 2010, it became part of the municipality of Venlo. Previously, it had been part of the municipality of Arcen en Velden and the seat of the town hall (). In 2001, Arcen had 1 ...
, in Limburg, a temperature of was reached, 0.8 °C below the national record (since 1904). A higher temperature had only been recorded twice before. On 8 August, a temperature of was recorded, and 12 August had a temperature of .


Spain

Initially, 141 deaths were attributed to the heat wave in Spain. A further research of INE estimated a 12,963 excess of deaths during summer of 2003. Temperature records were broken in various cities, with the heat wave being more felt in typically cooler northern Spain. Record temperatures were felt in: * Jerez, *
Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...
, *
Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...
, * San Sebastián, * Pontevedra, *
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, * Sevilla, (the 1995 record was )


Italy

The summer of 2003 was among the warmest in the preceding three centuries. The weather station of Catenanuova, in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, had a monthly mean of in July 2003, with an absolute maximum of on 17 July, with monthly mean maximum temperatures of , and in June, July, and August, respectively. On some days, the increase in power consumption, paired with a 800MW reduction of the electricity imported from France, itself coping with the heat wave, compelled the Italian power companies to set up
rolling blackout A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-overl ...
s. Italy estimated that the number of heat wave related deaths was approximately 20,000.


Germany

In Germany, shipping could not navigate the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
or
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
, as a result of low water levels. Around 300 people — mostly elderly — died during the heatwave.


Switzerland

Melting
glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...
s in the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
caused avalanches and flash floods in Switzerland. A new nationwide record temperature of was recorded in
Grono Grono may refer to: Places * Grono, Switzerland, municipality in Graubünden * Mount Grono Mount Grono () is a peak on Secretary Island, part of New Zealand's Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner ...
, Graubünden.


United Kingdom

The United Kingdom experienced one of its hottest summers on record with temperatures well above average.
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
cyclones brought cool and wet weather for a short while at the end of July and beginning of August before the temperatures started to increase substantially on 3 August. Several weather records were broken in the United Kingdom, including a new record for the country's highest ever recorded temperature of at
Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient Briti ...
in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
on 10 August, which remained the highest recorded temperature in the UK until the heatwave in July 2019. This was the first occasion on which temperatures exceeding had ever been officially recorded in the UK.
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
broke its highest temperature record with recorded in Greycrook in the Scottish borders on 9 August. Due to a number of deaths, the UK government released its Heat Health Watch system, issuing warnings if temperatures rise above 30 °C in the day and 15 °C at night. According to the BBC, over 2,000 more people than usual may have died in the United Kingdom during the 2003 heatwave. The
tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded tar ...
melted on part of the M25 between Junctions 26 and 27, and rails buckled from expansion on the hottest day in England in 13 years, while two teenaged boys drowned while trying to escape the excessive heat.


Ireland

The summer of 2003 was warmer than average in Ireland, but the heat was far less pronounced there than in the rest of Europe. August was by far the warmest, sunniest, and driest month, with temperatures roughly 2 °C above average. The highest temperature recorded was at Belderrig, County Mayo on 8 August.


Agricultural impact

Crops in Southern Europe suffered the most from drought.


Wheat

These shortfalls in
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
harvest occurred as a result of the long drought. * France – 20% * Italy – 13% * United Kingdom – 12% *
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
– 75% (unknown if affected by heatwave or an early freeze that year) *
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...
– 80% Many other countries had shortfalls of 5–10%, and the EU total production was down by 10 million tonnes, or 10%.


Grapes

The heatwave greatly accelerated the ripening of
grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...
s; also, the heat dehydrated the grapes, making for more concentrated juice. By mid-August, the grapes in certain
vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...
s had already reached their optimal sugar content, possibly resulting in 12.0°–12.5° wines (see alcoholic degree). Because of that, and also of the impending change to rainy weather, the harvest was started much earlier than usual (e.g. in mid-August for areas that are normally harvested in September). The wines from 2003, although in scarce quantity, were predicted to have exceptional quality, especially in France. The heatwave made Hungary fare extremely well in the Vinalies 2003 International wine contest: a total of nine gold and nine silver medals were awarded to Hungarian winemakers.


Oceanic impact

The anomalous overheating affecting the atmosphere also created anomalies on sea surface stratification in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
and on the surface currents, as well. A seasonal current of the central Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ionian Stream (AIS), was affected by the warm temperatures, resulting in modifications in its path and intensity. The AIS is important for the reproduction biology of important
pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...
commercial fish species, so the heatwave may have influenced indirectly the stocks of these species.


Economic impact

Extreme heat undermines the working capacity of individuals, resulting in lower productivity, and thus economic output. In 2003, economic losses attributed to excessive heat amounted to 0.5% of European
Gross Domestic Product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...
(GDP). This is 2.5 times higher than the losses experienced during an average year over the historical period 1981–2010. Losses of over 1% of GDP were recorded in areas with high exposure to heat and showing a large share of outdoor work.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 European Heat Wave
Heat Wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
European Heat Wave,2003 European Heat Wave,2003 Droughts in Europe Heat waves in Europe
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
Heatwave,2003 Heatwave,2003 Heatwave,2003 Heatwave,2003 Heatwave,2003 Heatwave,2003 Heatwave,2003 2003 European Heat Wave Heatwave Heatwave 2003 disasters in the United Kingdom 2003 disasters in Europe