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

An estimated 10,000, mostly elderly, people died in France from heat, according to the country's largest funeral service. France is not used to having very hot summers, and as a consequence, most people do not know how to react to very high temperatures (for instance, with respect to hydratation), and most homes and retirement homes are not equipped with air conditioning. Furthermore, why there are ready contingency plans for a variety of catastrophes and natural events, high heat had never been considered a major hazard and thus no such plans existed at the time for heat waves.

The heat wave occured in August, a month in which many, 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, 66 bodies still left unclaimed in the Paris area were inhumated.

The shortcomings of the nation's health system that could allow such a death toll are a matter of controversy in France. The administration of president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has laid the blame on

• the 35-hour workweek
• family practitioners vacationing in August;
• 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

An estimated 2,000 died in Italy, where temperatures varied between 38 and 40 Celsius degrees in most cities for weeks.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the highest temperature since records began in 1911 (38°C/ 100.4°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.

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.

Germany

In Germany, a record temperature of 40.4 Celsius 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.

Switzerland

Melting glaciers in the Alps caused avalanches and flash floods in Switzerland.

Effects on crops

Crops have suffered from drought in southern Europe, but in the north, they have actually done very well. The French wine vintage is expected to be one of the best ever.

Wheat

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

• France - 20%
• Italy - 13%
• United Kingdom - 12%
• Ukraine - 75%
• 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 believed that the wines from 2003, although in scarce quantity, will have exceptional quality.

Causes of the Heat Wave and the deaths

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 Austral summer, and massive floods in the USA) and attributed to global warming. Global dimming has also been said to be a cause of the heatwave.

A contributing cause to the deaths was that most European homes, retirement homes etc. do not have air conditioning, simply because it is unneeded in normal summer conditions.