Hit like the rest of Western Europe by an unprecedented series of heat waves, Germany has experienced its deadliest summer, with around 14,000 deaths linked to the heat wave, according to provisional estimates published on Thursday.

This figure, established by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German health authority, provides information on the estimated number of deaths linked to heat waves - made more intense and frequent by human-caused climate change - up to August 9.

But with autumn still a month away, Germany, the most populous country in the European Union with its 82 million inhabitants, has already shattered the previous record from 2018: it had then recorded an estimated 8,900 deaths linked to the heat.

France and Spain also published provisional figures on Wednesday and Thursday for excess mortality during periods of high temperatures this year: 7,300 deaths for the former, 4,500 for the latter.

As in other European countries, people aged 75 and over were the most affected in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute said in its weekly report.

According to the RKI, 9,600 of the 14,000 people who have died this year due to the heat died during the week of June 22-28, which was particularly hot in Germany.

During this period, record temperatures, exceeding 41°C in some places, were recorded.

The extent of heat-related deaths is modeled using statistical methods, by comparing the number of deaths occurring during summer weeks with and without heat waves. This is necessary because heat cannot be listed as the cause of death on death certificates and therefore does not appear in the statistics.

- Number of deaths "underestimated" -

Heat rarely causes direct death, as is the case, for example, in heatstroke.

In most cases, it is a combination of high temperatures and pre-existing conditions, such as cardiovascular, pulmonary, or renal diseases, that leads to death. This is why we speak of heat-related deaths.

In an interview given Thursday to the German daily Rheinische Post, former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach stated that the number of heat-related deaths was "underestimated," stressing that the Robert Koch Institute was applying a "rather cautious methodology."

This medical graduate, however, defended the RKI's approach, which is "perfectly justifiable, because it still allows for a good reflection of relative variations".

Social Democrat Mr. Lauterbach agreed with members of his party who proposed last Sunday to enshrine in the German Constitution the protection of nature and adaptation to climate change as "common missions" of the federal state and the Länder (regions).

"Effective protection against heat is expensive," he noted, judging the project of his peers in the SPD, the minority partner in the government of conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to be "justified."

Mr. Lauterbach called on the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party (CSU), who are currently reluctant, to rally behind this proposal, which requires a two-thirds majority in the German parliament.

Recently, the German Association of Cities and Municipalities (DStGB) called for better heat protection for hospitals and nursing homes.

"Hospitals need air conditioning for patients, but also for healthcare staff. We see here a need for considerable investment, which, according to rough estimates, would amount to at least 20 billion euros," its president, Ralph Spiegler, told the Rheinische Post newspaper.