Heat-Related Mortality in Freiburg and Rostock in 2003 and 2005 – Methodology and Results

In Freiburg and Rostock, heatwaves were compared to control periods for the years 2003/2005. In Freiburg, a long heatwave in 2003 cost 21 lives (equal to a significant excess mortality of 33%). No or no significant excess mortalities were found for shorter heatwaves in Freiburg and for Rostock. The detection of heat-related mortality depends on the size of the cities (population) and the heatwave characteristics.