More than 50,000 people are estimated to have died across Europe's cities during the brutal heat waves that roiled the continent this summer, making 2026's heat the region's deadliest on record, according to a new analysis.
The study released by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Friday analyzed temperature data from 854 urban areas across the 27 EU member states as well as Britain, Norway and Switzerland -- regions home to roughly 40 percent of the combined population of those 30 countries.
The study estimates that heat-related deaths in these areas this summer were the highest since 2000.
Researchers noted that mounting evidence shows European cities have not yet adequately adapted to rising temperatures, and that response capacity should be strengthened through measures such as expanding green spaces, reducing pollution and providing medical services to affected populations.
Heat kills over 50,000 in European cities this summer
Heavy airstrikes hit Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Mocha in the southwestern province of Taiz on Saturday, killing and wounding several people, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.
Successive airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition rocked Sanaa with powerful explosions. Local residents said that warplanes continued to hover over the capital amid loud blasts.
Al-Masirah said three people were killed and several others wounded when a strike hit a house in Asr, western Sanaa. It also reported casualties after a cement factory was struck in Hamdan district, northwest of the capital.
The broadcaster also said nearly 20 airstrikes hit Mocha, a city in southwestern Taiz province near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's key maritime chokepoints.
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.
Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said on Saturday on social media platform X that the coalition intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi group toward the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The strikes came as Yemen's internationally recognized government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, intensified their "Dawn of Yemen" offensive against the Houthis, while the group has responded with missile and drone attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
Heavy airstrikes hit Houthi-held Sanaa, Mocha amid escalating Yemen conflict
