It's no secret that heatwaves have always affected our planet, and are part of the warming and cooling cycles of the Earth. However, intense and prolonged heat events are now affecting areas across the world with an unprecedented frequency and ferocity. Here we take a look at some of the deadliest and most infamous heatwaves in history.
One of the earliest recorded heatwaves can be traced back to the 16th century, when an 11-month-long drought in Europe was caused by dry conditions and soaring temperatures. Italian chronicles say there was no rain for nearly 200 days, and rivers like the Rhine, Elbe and Seine became so low people could walk across them. The Thames in the UK was so low that sea water flowing inland temporarily reversed the river's direction. With soil drying up across the continent, a famine followed and estimates say half a million Europeans died from dysentery after drinking contaminated water, while wildfires razed entire towns to the ground.
Often referred to as 'the burning summer', 1743 was one of the hottest years on record. Beijing warmed up to a record-breaking 44.4°C (111.9°F) on 25 July – a record still standing to this day – and the neighbouring provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong all suffered from unbearable temperatures. It's estimated that around 11,000 people died as a result, but few reliable records exist of this devastating event.
Coinciding with one of the worst droughts the country had ever seen, Australia's deadliest heatwave occurred on and off from 1895 to 1903, from the Gold Coast in the east across to Perth in the far-west. Estimates suggest that at least 435 people died, and the drought-heatwave combination devastated the country's livestock. Australia lost more than 40% of its cattle – nearly three million in Queensland alone – and nearly half of its sheep during this period. Enormous dust storms were also common, and millions of acres of farmland were abandoned.
In August 1896 a heatwave brought death to New York City, Boston and Chicago, claiming around 1,500 lives, mostly from the cities' poorest districts. Temperatures stayed above 32°C (90°F) for 10 days straight, and with practically no wind and 90% humidity the cities stagnated and sizzled. New York's Lower East Side was one of the worst affected areas, with many people crammed into tenements with no air conditioning or running water and little air circulation. A citywide ban on sleeping in parks meant many residents looked to roofs, river banks and fire escapes for relief, which caused countless accidents and deaths.
The first eight days of February 1900 are recorded in Argentinian history as 'the week of fire'. Buenos Aires and Rosario recorded highs of 37°C (99°F), but it was the high humidity that made things even worse, elevating the 'sensation of heat' up to a blistering 49°C (120°F), far above the point at which high heat becomes dangerous. At least 478 people lost their lives as a result of the heatwave.
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Compared to modern-day heatwaves, and the Dust Bowl heatwave which occurred some 30 years later, this 1901 American heatwave didn't set any temperature records, but it's nevertheless notable for its exceptional length. Affecting the eastern United States from June into July, the heatwave was extremely damaging, with around 9,500 casualties nationwide. The worst-affected area was Bowling Green in Kentucky, where 30 out of the 31 days in July reached a temperature of at least 32°C (90°F), with every day from 20 to 29 July reaching a high of at least 39°C (102°F). It remains one of the worst heatwaves in American history.
In 1911 New York City experienced days of continuous heat over 32°C (90°F), apparently driving some people to the brink of insanity. A man leaped off of a pier in Lower Manhattan, an overheated labourer had to be wrestled into a straitjacket to keep him from jumping in front of a train, and a drunken man seemingly crazed by the heat attacked a policeman with a meat cleaver. People slept in parks, horses collapsed in the street, railway tracks buckled and mail services were suspended. The situation was similar in cities like Providence, Hartford and Boston, where over 5,000 people left their homes to sleep on Boston Common.
One of the first officially recorded heatwaves hit the UK in August 1911, breaking a number of records from 1906. Temperatures soared and a recording of 36.7°C (98°F) in Raunds, Northamptonshire remains the eighth hottest temperature in British history. Local heat records were also set during this heatwave, many of which stood for decades. Labourers worked from 4.30am to midday to avoid the worst of the sun, wells ran dry causing water shortages and, as heatwave-related accidents mounted, The Times began a column entitled 'Deaths From Heat'.
The same heatwave also affected the rest of Europe, and France was one of the worst-hit countries. For 70 days scorching temperatures terrorised Paris and its inhabitants, with 15 days in a row exceeding the 30°C (86°F) mark. The situation was no better in other parts of the country, with Lyon and Bordeaux sweltering in 40°C (104°F). As a result, over 41,000 excess deaths were recorded, mostly of the elderly and young children under the age of two.
Short but incredibly intense, the heatwave that scorched California in 1913 was one of the hottest on record, prompting authorities to leave out blocks of ice (pictured) that people could lick to cool down. The highest ambient air temperature ever recorded on Earth also hails from this heatwave, a record that still stands. On 10 July a sheltered thermometer at Furnace Creek in Death Valley rose to a shocking 56.7°C (134°F). Although many claims of hotter temperatures have been made since, none have been verified, so the record remains.
An unprecedented decade of heat and drought started in 1930, dubbed 'the Dust Bowl years'. Affecting the southern US and the Canadian prairies, the heatwave hit 49°C (120°F) in numerous states, destroying crops while high winds caused dust storms. Years of unsustainable farming techniques had degraded topsoil, killing native grasses that would otherwise have retained moisture. The heat and drought destroyed livelihoods, which, combined with the Great Depression, caused people to migrate to the coastal states. In total, around 2.5 million people moved out of the Plains states over the course of the decade.
The worst year of the Dust Bowl era was 1936, and that summer saw the worst heatwave in American history. Two weeks of record-high temperatures consistently measuring over 38°C (100°F) occurred in July, contributing to roughly 5,000 deaths in the US. The blistering heat also struck Canada and the next summer was to be a scorcher too: Canada recorded its highest temperature ever (until June 2021), with the mercury soaring to 45°C (113°F) on 5 July 1937 in the towns of Midale and Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan.
Seared into many British people's minds as the worst heatwave in living memory, the summer of 1976 was notoriously excruciating. Temperatures topped 32°C (89.6°F) for 15 days on the trot, peaking at 35.9°C (96°F) on 3 July. Drought hit the country and 'Save water – bath with a friend' became a popular slogan, while the Drought Act 1976 empowered local authorities to fine people found wasting water. The UK would later report a 20% spike in excess deaths, with increased hospitalisations for sunstroke and heat-related heart attacks.
Dubbed 'the silent killer' by The Washington Post, the heatwave of 1980, which affected the Midwest and Southern Plains, remains one of the nation's deadliest weather events to date. Agriculture suffered due to associated droughts, and Alabama lost half its entire corn crop. The direct death toll of the heatwave was counted at 1,260, but later research showed that as many as 10,000 deaths might have been indirectly caused.
The summer of 1987 scorched much of Greece, with temperatures reaching up to 44°C (112°F) during a blisteringly hot week in July. Athens and its surrounds suffered from water shortages thanks to increased demand, and Greek newspapers at the time put total casualties somewhere between 650 and 900. The Greek islands suffered similarly, with heat reaching 38°C (101°F) most days due to the lack of the usual strong summer winds.
One of the worst heatwaves to ever swoop across the continent, the end of June in 1988 brought blistering heat and the largest fire in Yellowstone National Park's history, as there was almost no rainfall between June and August. Temperatures crossed the 38°C (100°F) mark all across the country, and on 21 June nearly every state in the continental US reported 32°C (90°F) or higher. It was estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 people died, and on 24 June ABC's World News Tonight programme featured Midwesterners wondering if God had turned against them.
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After suffering from deadly heatwaves in 1980 and 1988, Chicago's worst heat arrived in July 1995, when more than 700 residents lost their lives in just five hot and humid days. On 13 July, the temperature hit 45°C (113°F), but, adjusted by a heat index that takes into account humidity, the temperature people felt surpassed 52°C (126°F). Much of the city's infrastructure started to break down due to the widespread need for air conditioning, communities lost water pressure and train rails and roads buckled in the heat.
Over 1,000 people lost their lives as temperatures of 50°C (122°F) hit parts of southern India in May 2002. It was reported at the time that the temperatures were so extreme that tin-roofed homes turned into ovens, water catchments dried up and animals collapsed in the streets and fields. A local farmer described the hottest day of the heatwave as the worst day of his life. ''There was no place to hide,'' he said. ''Even the dirt floor of my hut felt like an oven.''
In July and August 2003, most countries across the continent sizzled in some of the worst heat ever seen. France was hit hardest, with temperatures soaring to 40°C (104°F) and people suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. The heatwave triggered forest fires in Spain, Portugal and Italy and caused extreme snow melt in the Alps, prompting flash floods. The heatwave claimed more than 20,000 lives across Europe, and was described by meteorologists as the worst extreme heat seen by the continent for 500 years.
Intense heat in southern Europe, which saw temperatures in Athens reach 45°C (113°F) in the shade, sparked forest fires that were then fanned by high winds. Up to 500 people lost their lives in Hungary, where a record high of 41.9°C (107°F) was registered in the southern city of Kiskunhalas, while wildfires in Greece killed 84 and destroyed 670,000 acres of forest and farmland. Countries across the Balkan Peninsula suffered, with a historic 43°C (109°F) in Belgrade and 44°C (111°F) in Bulgaria.
Fifty separate locations set all-time temperature records across southeastern Australia in January and February 2009, including 46.4°C (116°F) in the city of Melbourne and 48.8°C (120°F) in Hopetoun in Victoria, a record for the state. In one especially unusual incident, an airport near Adelaide recorded a temperature of 41.7°C (107°F) at 3.04am. The heatwave was relentless, and the town of Mildura recorded an all-time record 12 consecutive days over 43°C (109°F). The extreme heat caused hundreds of deaths and triggered devastating bushfires in Victoria; the so-called 'Black Saturday bushfires' on 7 February claimed 173 lives on their own.
Much of Europe suffered from searing heat during the summer months of 2010, but no country felt it more harshly than Russia. Temperatures soared above 40°C (104°F), with a high of 44°C (111°F) recorded in Yashkul in southern Russia. As a result, around 22 million acres of crops perished and pollution held Moscow, and other large industrial cities, in a chokehold. In July over 14,000 deaths were recorded in Moscow alone – a number five times greater than normal in July – and around 2,000 Russians drowned in a short two-week period while seeking relief from the heat.
A deadly heatwave swooped over Argentina in December 2013. Some areas of the country experienced temperatures 15°C (26°F) higher than normal, and air temperature reached as high as 45°C (113°F) in central Argentina. The Buenos Aires Herald reported widespread power outages – caused by increased demand for air conditioning – as well as water shortages. Seven people perished, and meteorologists said it had been the worst heatwave since records began in 1906.
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Australians endured their then-hottest summer on record in 2013, when no fewer than 123 extreme weather records were broken across the country in just 90 days. Bushfires affected every state, and in some places temperatures topped 48°C (118°F). It was so hot that meteorologists were forced to add two new colour categories to Australia's weather prediction maps as the heat rose, while the entire country averaged over 39°C (102.2°F) for seven consecutive days. Ending a long period of reluctance, government advisors unequivocally linked the heatwave – nicknamed 'Angry Summer' – to climate change for the first time.
In the summer of 2015, unusual winds caused a 'heat bomb' to sweep over India, as the country was hit with intense temperatures of up to 48°C (118°F). The blistering heat could cause severe heatstroke from even a few minutes outside, and caused roads to melt in India’s capital New Delhi. The high temperatures are thought to have caused at least 2,300 deaths and only subsided when monsoon rains finally cooled the country. The heatwave was similarly severe in southern Pakistan, and killed an additional 1,100 people there.
A major heatwave gripped most of the Middle East in one of the hottest summers on record in 2016. Temperatures over 53°C (127°F) hit Iraq, causing water and electricity shortages in refugee camps at Habbaniya and Amiriyat al-Fallujah. The highest temperature was recorded in Mitribah in Kuwait, where readings claimed an excruciating heat of 54°C (129.2°F) – possibly a record for the Middle East and Asia.
Longstanding records were shattered when a heatwave hit India in 2016, bringing with it temperatures over 50°C (122°F) in several places, and an all-time Indian high temperature of 51°C (124°F) in Rajasthan. The previous record was 50.6°C (123°F), also set in Rajasthan in 1956. A 'severe heatwave' warning was issued for large parts of the north, and some areas banned daytime cooking to prevent fires. Several hundred people are thought to have died.
Reports of buckling roads, people driving wearing oven gloves and even cacti wilting accompanied a brutal heatwave in America's southwest in the summer of 2017. The deadly heatwave saw Needles in California tie its all-time record temperature of 51.6°C (125°F), and Arizona state capital Phoenix top 48°C (119°F), barely a degree off its record high. More than 40 flights were grounded across the region, and a PetSmart store in Tempe, Arizona handed out free booties for dogs to prevent them burning their paws on the blisteringly hot pavements.
Australia experienced its hottest day on record in December 2019, with an average peak temperature across the country reaching 41.9°C (107.4°F). The Bureau of Meteorology warned of an unprecedented bushfire season, and their prediction came true as the 2019-20 season earned itself the moniker 'Black Summer'. The fires burned an estimated 60 million acres of land, killing or displacing around three billion koalas, kangaroos and other animals.
Western Canada's 2021 heatwave was the deadliest weather event in Canadian history. From 25 June to 1 July, the country's provinces recorded 103 all-time heat records, including in the British Columbia town of Lytton, which notched Canada's highest ever temperature of 49.6°C (121.3°F). The following day, the entire town burned in a wildfire. In British Columbia, the coroner's service confirmed 619 heat-related deaths as a result of the event, which scientists say is a direct result of climate change.
Intense heat hit parts of northeast Russia in the summer of 2021, where the temperature in the Siberian city of Yakutsk reached a record-breaking 38.9°C (102°F), closing airports and roads and prompting evacuations. Usually the temperature here ranges between a breath-freezing -42°C and a balmy 25°C (-44°F to 77°F) throughout the year. The heat triggered the driest summer in 150 years, which led to the worst forest fire season Siberia has endured in modern history. Nearly 45 million acres of woodland were burned to the ground.
2022 was one of the worst years on record for heatwaves, starting with unprecedented heat in South America where temperatures above 40°C (104°F) seem to be becoming the norm. Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil experienced up to 45°C (113°F) heat, with towns across the region reporting their hottest ever days. Argentinian farmers had already suffered significant crop losses with a deep drought the previous year, and the heatwave compounded their problems. A new study has since argued that an increase of just 1°C (1.8°F) in extreme temperatures could be linked to nearly one million deaths in Latin America.
For five days straight Tokyo dealt with unbearable temperatures above 35°C (95°F), as a sweltering heatwave rippled across Japan in June 2022. Neighbouring Isesaki saw a temperature of 40.2°C (104.3°F) – the highest June temperature Japan has ever seen. The heatwave was declared the worst in the country since records began in 1875, and thousands of people had to seek medical help due to heatstroke and exhaustion. The heat also brought an abrupt end to Japan's rainy season – 22 days earlier than normal.
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In the UK, the Met Office was forced to issue its first ever extreme heat red warning across much of England as temperatures exceeded 35°C (95°F) in early July 2022. The UK's all-time hottest day quickly followed on 19 July, when an unprecedented 40.3°C (104.5°F) was recorded in eastern England, and the rest of the country sweltered with highs of 38°C (100°F) or more. Public transport was suspended, schools closed and people were warned to stay indoors. The heat also caused extensive wildfires, and the London Fire Brigade had its busiest day since the Second World War. Meanwhile, London's historic Hammersmith Bridge was wrapped in giant pieces of foil to stop it overheating.
To add to the growing body of evidence that heatwaves are becoming more frequent, monitoring firm Copernicus revealed that June, July and August 2022 were Europe's hottest on record. It added that Europe's August temperatures were the highest in history "by a substantial margin", and that it was the third-hottest August globally since records began. In August nearly two thirds of EU land was under drought warning, affecting harvests, energy production, water availability and food and energy prices. Italy's River Po went on to experience its worst drought in 70 years, and subsequent research revealed that the climate crisis has made drought and heatwaves 20 times more likely.
Records were broken across Southeast Asia in 2023 as the region suffered one of its worst-ever heatwaves, said to be a 'once-in-200-years' event. On the weekend of 8 May, temperatures hit a national record-breaking 44.2°C (111.6°F) in the northern district of Tuong Duong in Vietnam, while in Bangkok the thermometer ticked up to 41°C (105.8°F), another record. Typically cooler Laos was left to roast as well, with 43.5°C (110.3°F) registered in Luang Prabang, the highest reliably recorded temperature in the country's history.
Texas and much of the American southwest spent most of June under a ’heat dome’ that brought weeks of excruciating temperatures, and more than 5,000 heat records were broken or tied in the region in just 30 days. In Corpus Christi in Texas, the mercury reached 51°C (125°F) on multiple days, while Arizona's state capital Phoenix was hit with 31 consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 43°C (110°F). The extreme heat saw pavements in the city hit a staggering 82°C (180°F), and hundreds of people were treated for second and third-degree burns.
Nearly a month of blistering heat haunted residents and visitors in southern Europe in the summer of 2023. A historic heatwave, named Cerberus after the three-headed monster from Greek mythology, roasted Spain, France, Croatia, Greece, Turkey and more. In July, the land temperature in Spain's Extremadura region hit 60°C (140°F), while in Italy a red alert warning was issued for 10 cities as temperatures hit 48.8°C (119.8°F). The heatwave helped make 6 July officially the planet’s hottest day since records began – part of the world's hottest ever week between 3 and 10 July, in which the 'hottest day' record was broken three times in quick succession.
An unseasonal heatwave swept across South America in August 2023, at a time when the continent should be experiencing midwinter temperatures. Some have suggested that winter is disappearing in the Southern Hemisphere, with Buenos Aires in Argentina recording its hottest 1 August in 117 years, and northern regions reporting temperatures of 37°C (99°F) and 39°C (102°F). The heat was even more unbearable in Chile, where the heatwave neared the 40°C (104°F) mark.
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