Over 10 000 people have died in Europe due to abnormal heatwave. Three nuclear reactors have been shut down in France

More than 10 000 deaths were recorded in European countries during the record heatwave that swept the western part of the continent in late June.

This is reported by Reuters, citing data from the EuroMOMO mortality monitoring network.

In the week of June 22-28, 10 650 more people died in 27 European countries than usual during that period, as heatwaves peaked in France, Spain, the UK and elsewhere.

More than nine thousand of the deaths were people aged 65 and older. Scientists say there were no other large-scale causes, including COVID-19 outbreaks, that could explain such a jump in mortality.

In addition, due to the heat in France, three nuclear reactors were temporarily shut down, and eight more are operating at half capacity, writes France24. The reason is that the water in the rivers used to cool the nuclear power plants is too warm. Because of this, energy companies are forced to limit the operation of the plants in order not to harm the ecosystems.

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