Spain records 2,149 heat-related deaths in August

Almost 2,150 people are thought to have died from heat-related causes in Spain in August, official data showed on Tuesday, after record-breaking heatwaves engulfed Western Europe during the summer.

• Data on the Health Ministry's daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed 2,149 excess deaths attributable to the heat last month, the second-highest August number since records began in 2015, surpassed only by last year's record of 2,184.

• MoMo estimated that 5,234 people died from heat-related causes between May 15 and August 31, the highest toll recorded for the summer period since the monitoring system was launched in 2015, even without data for September.

• The highest number of deaths in August was recorded in the northeastern region of Catalonia, at 1,164, the data showed, followed by the Valencia and Andalusia regions, with 227 and 138 deaths, respectively.

• Of those who died, 1,283 were women and 866 were men, while 2,064 were aged over 65, including 1,285 who were over 85.

• Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people among the most vulnerable.

• Spain's weather agency AEMET said an episode of unusually hot weather for early September would set in from Thursday and likely persist into the weekend, with temperatures climbing well above seasonal norms. Highs are expected to exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) across much of inland Spain, accompanied by widespread tropical nights with temperatures remaining above 20C.

-Reporting by Benjamín Mejías Valencia; Editing by Kirsten Donovan/Reuters