BELGIQUE PERSPECTIVE

Brussels, June 20, 2026. The heat wave sweeping across Europe is not treated in Belgium as a uniform climate event. Belgian media analyze it along three distinct fracture lines — health, energy, and urban — converging on a single conclusion: preexisting vulnerabilities systematically amplify the effects of extreme heat.

On health grounds, La Libre Belgique has highlighted an angle rarely covered elsewhere: women face greater mortality risk during heat waves than men. The newspaper cites an Oxfam report titled "Health and Climate: The Fever Rises," released as France dealt with its second heat wave of the year. The World Health Organization is cited: over 200,000 people died across Europe in the past four years from extreme heat waves. "The European continent is warming much faster than any other region," the WHO notes, pointing to premature deaths in Italy, Spain, and Greece. In France, heat causes roughly 5,400 deaths annually.

The same outlet flagged less-known pharmaceutical risks. Belgium's pharmaceutical sector, via Thierry Christiaens of the Belgian Center for Pharmacotherapy Information (BCFI), identifies two patient categories: those taking over-the-counter medications and those on long-term treatments. Common anti-inflammatory drugs—ibuprofen, Brufen, Voltaren, Nurofen—are explicitly contraindicated during heat waves. "In cases of dehydration, they can trigger kidney failure and, in extreme cases, complete kidney obstruction, potentially fatal," Christiaens warned. Risk increases among elderly people, who "underestimate daily fluid losses and do not drink enough."

On the energy front, VRT NWS documented a new phenomenon called "Hitzeflaute"—the summer equivalent of winter's Dunkelflaute. On the evening of June 18, electricity prices on the EPEX exchange jumped from 11 euros to nearly 550 euros per megawatthour within hours, a 50-fold increase. The cause: demand exploded from air conditioning and heat pumps while the sun set and wind disappeared, leaving renewable energy unusable. Belgium turned heavily to expensive gas plants. The phenomenon struck simultaneously across Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Denmark. France, notably, escaped thanks to its nuclear fleet.

Finally, in Antwerp's Deurne-Zuid neighborhood, the concrete impact of urban planning decisions on felt temperature emerged starkly. Fifty trees were cut down in August 2025 to build a tram loop. Resident measurements show temperatures now 7 degrees Celsius higher in cleared zones versus tree-covered ones. "Trees are natural air conditioning," said Lode Daelemans, spokesperson for the local coalition. Antwerp officials called the decision "extremely short-sighted," especially as further cuts are planned for sewer repairs.