The numbers tell a stark story: Europe’s record-breaking summer of 2024 claimed more than 62,700 lives, marking it as one of the continent’s deadliest heat seasons on record. The 2024 heat concentrated in southeastern Europe, where aging populations and limited air conditioning created perfect storms for mortality. The 2022 summer remains the deadliest with nearly 68,000 deaths, followed by 2024’s toll and 2023’s relatively lower count of about 51,000 deaths. The study’s methodology represents a significant advance in heat mortality research. Previous estimates relied on weekly temperature and mortality data, which researchers now know underestimates deaths by 5-20%.