The death toll in England and Wales caused by record temperatures this month may have been as high as 900, according to official figures showing that nearly 10 percent more people died at the peak of the heat wave than was normal for the time of year.
The UK's Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday that 10,132 people died during the week ending Aug. 15.
This was 907 more than the average for the comparable week during the previous five years.
Although weekly figures can vary by several hundred without any clear climatic cause, the office conceded it was likely that some of the extra deaths were due to the extreme heat, which hit a record 38.10C on Aug. 10 in Gravesend, Kent.
The situation was worse in France, where ministers have admitted that about 10,000 deaths may have been caused by the heat, although a definitive figure is not expected for several weeks.
Peter Goldblatt, of the statistics office's health and care division, said there were 1,460 fewer deaths than normal registered over the eight weeks to July 25 and 454 fewer in the week ending Aug. 1. There were 78 more deaths than average in the week ending Aug. 8.
The sharp increase during the week of the heat wave therefore broke the pattern of the previous two months.
He pointed out, however, that the number of deaths naturally varied each week by around 500 so it was impossible to say whether the 907 deaths were due to the weather.
The Department of Health said it did not collect figures on heat-related deaths and was unaware of a substantial extra burden on the publicly-funded National Health Service.
"We were aware of an increase in demand in some NHS areas during the hot weather, mainly in the south of England," said a spokesman.
"But there were not any trusts that reported being unable to cope with the level of demand.
"Some ambulance services were dealing with extra calls at the time and a lot were able to deal with the problems at the scene. There was a knock-on effect with more people going to [accident and emergency] but we did not see any hospitals unable to cope," the spokesman said.
In the lead-up to the hottest day, the health department issued advice on how to cope with the heat.
But the department does not require notification of heat-related deaths and so will never know how many could be attributed to heatstroke, which can lead to coma, kidney failure and heart failure.
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