The summer of 2003 was one of the hottest ever in Europe; this led to a health crisis in certain countries as well as considerable impact on crops.

Country-by-country

---

France

14,802 people ^*, mostly elderly, died in France from heat, according to the country's largest funeral service. France does not commonly have very hot summers, particularly in the northern areas. As a consequence, most people do not know how to react to very high temperatures (for instance, with respect to rehydration), and most homes and retirement homes are not equipped with air conditioning. Furthermore, while there are contingency plans for a variety of catastrophes and natural events, high heat had never been considered a major hazard and so such plans for heat waves did not exist at the time.

The heat wave occurred in August, a month in which many people, including government ministers and physicians, are on vacation.

Many bodies were not claimed for many weeks because relatives were on holiday. A refrigerated warehouse outside Paris was used by undertakers, because they didn't have enough space in their own facilities. On September 3, 57 bodies still left unclaimed in the Paris area were buried.

That shortcomings of the nation's health system could allow such a death toll is a matter of controversy in France. The administration of President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin laid the blame on

• the 35-hour workweek
• 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.)
• families who leave their elderly behind without caring for them.

The opposition as well as many of the editorials of the local press have blamed the administration. Many blamed Health Minister Jean-François Mattei for not coming back from his vacations when the heat wave struck, 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.

Jean-François Mattei was not kept as a minister following from the March 31, 2004 cabinet shuffle.

Italy

20,000 people died in Italy, where temperatures varied between 38 and 40 degrees Celsius in most cities for weeks ^*.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the highest temperature since records began in 1911 (37.9°C/ 100.2°F) was recorded at London's Heathrow airport on Sunday, August 10 2003. This was surpassed later the same day at Gravesend, Kent, with a temperature of 38.1°C (100.6°F). 907 people were estimated to have died because of the heat by 15 August. Subsequent temperature analysis revealed an all-time UK temperature high at Brogdale Orchards, one mile SW of Faversham, Kent, attaining 38.5C (101.4F)on 10 August 2003

Portugal

There were extensive forest fires in Portugal. Five per cent of the countryside and ten per cent of the forests were destroyed, an estimated 4,000 km². Eighteen people died in the fires.

Spain

There were 141 deaths in the country. Temperature records in Jerez 45.1º, Badajoz 45.0º, Huelva 43.4º, Gerona 41.2º, Burgos 38.8º, San Sebastián 38.6º, Pontevedra 38.2º and Barcelona 37.3º. In other cities of southern Spain not arrived to the record but the temperatures were higher than 40º: Murcia 41.8º, Toledo 42.0º Sevilla, 45.2º and Cordoba, 46.2º (the hottest in Spain).

Germany

In Germany, a record temperature of 40.4 Celsius (104.7 Fahrenheit) was recorded at Roth, Bavaria. With only half the normal rainfall, rivers were at their lowest this century, and shipping could not navigate the Elbe or Danube. Around 60 people (mostly elderly) had died during the 2003 heatwave in Germany.

Switzerland

Melting glaciers in the Alps caused avalanches and flash floods in Switzerland. A new nationwide record temperature of 41.5 Celsius (106.7 °F) was recorded in Grono, Graubünden. Before August 2003 the temperatures never climbed over 40 Celsius.

Total Dead

As many as 50,000 people died from the 2003 European heat wave.

Effects on crops

---

Crops suffered from drought in southern Europe, but conversely in the north they actually did very well.

Wheat

The following shortfalls in wheat harvest occurred as a result of the long drought.

• France - 20%
• Italy - 13%
• United Kingdom - 12%
• Ukraine - 75% (Unknown if affected by heatwave or an early freeze that year.)
• Moldova - 80%

Many other countries had shortfalls of 5-10%, and the EU total production was down by 10 million tonnes, or 10%.

Grape

The heat wave greatly accelerated the ripening of grapes; also, the heat dehydrates the grapes, making for more concentrated juice. By mid-August, the grapes in certain vineyards had already reached their nominal sugar content, possibly resulting in 12°-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).

It is predicted that the wines from 2003, although in scarce quantity, will have exceptional quality, especially in France.

Causes of the heat wave

---

The heat wave has inevitably been linked to unprecedented weather extremes in other parts of the world taking place in the same general period (such as the worst drought in recorded history in Australia during the previous Australian summer, and massive floods in the USA) and attributed to global warming. A December 2004 article in the journal Nature indeed found climate change to be a contributing factor.^* If global warming ultimately leads to the slowing or shutting down of the Atlantic current, as some predict, it could, if the future, actually make Europe cooler. Global dimming has also been linked to the heatwave, the theory being that Europe's reduced pollution levels since the turn of the century have reduced dimming's masking effect on global warming.

The massive death toll in France has been blamed on France's labour laws which contributed to severe staff shortages in the public health and aged care systems during the country's summer vacation, as well as a lack of air-conditioning in French medical facilities. The government of Jacques Chirac and his Minister for Health, Jean-François Mattei, were condemned for failing to issue warnings and not recalling staff back to work as news of mortality spikes were being reported from the health surveillance authorities.

Weather events | 2003 meteorology | History of Europe | 2003 disasters

Hitzewelle 2003 | Ola de calor europea de 2003 | Canicule de 2003