Patterns of extreme temperature-related catastrophic events in Europe including the Russian Federation: a cross-sectional analysis of the Emergency Events Database

OBJECTIVE: To investigate reported extreme temperature-related catastrophic events and associated mortality on the European continent including the Russian Federation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional respecting Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) criteria. SETTINGS: Data source: Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). PARTICIPANTS: Search criteria: location—European continent including Russian Federation, time—years 1988 until 2019 (close of database 12 July 2019), catastrophic events—extreme temperatures. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of heat waves, cold waves, severe winter conditions and associated number of deaths, overall, and per country and year, respecting STROBE criteria. RESULTS: The most frequent type of the 243 events recorded in EM-DAT were cold waves (54.7%). However, cold waves and severe winter conditions only accounted for 6460 deaths (4.5%), while heat waves were associated with 137 533 deaths (95.5%). The five most severe heat waves in 2003, 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2015 were associated with a total of 135 089 deaths. The most severe heat waves were geographically distributed over the Russian Federation (2010), as well as France, Italy, Spain and Germany, each in 2003. CONCLUSION: Although cold waves are more frequently reported in EM-DAT, heat waves are the major cause for temperature-related deaths. In order to better protect the public, it is important to address resiliency and vulnerability of populations at risk and age groups.