Heat Wave Is a Test of Whom Governments Protect, And How

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An older couple shelters from the sun under an umbrella near the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, Ile-de-France, France, on June 26, 2026. © 2026 Gauthier Bedrignans/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

As Europe swelters through the second intense heat wave of 2026, governments are issuing warnings, closing schools or adjusting class hours, and urging people to stay indoors.

Extreme heat is a weather event, but its consequences for people whose specific needs are overlooked in government climate planning or adaptation policies can be perilous. Age, needs and accommodations of children, older people, and people with disabilities must be accounted for or their rights will be disproportionately impacted. Human Rights Watch research points to a common lesson: heat waves become disasters when governments fail to prepare for their unequal impacts.

Academic research suggests that children’s learning outcomes decline when classroom temperatures rise into the mid-20s degrees Celsius. In 2024, the United Nations Children’s Fund found that heat waves disrupted schooling for an estimated 171 million students worldwide.

Students at Springwood High School in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia, were tired, distracted, and struggling to concentrate in hot classrooms without air conditioning. But when they used temperature sensors to establish that classroom temperatures exceeded 24 degrees Celsius for 60 percent of the summer, the students helped explain why their quality of education was deteriorating, and what needed to change.

Older people are at particular risk of heat-related illness and death, with older women especially at risk based on factors including increased cardiovascular strain and being more likely to live alone. Despite the risk being foreseeable, the fact that the vast majority of heat-related deaths in heat waves across Europe have been among older people, indicates a failure to adequately respond. In Spain’s 2022 heat wave, 98 percent of heat-related deaths were people 65 and older. 

People with disabilities are also at heightened risk. In Andalusia in southern Spain, they described to Human Rights Watch the physical and mental impact of the extreme heat in 2022, including difficulties breathing, infections, losing consciousness, loneliness, and social isolation. All felt neglected by the Andalusian authorities, whose 2022 Heatwave Action Plan did not include specific measures to ensure the safety of people with disabilities, except for those in institutions.  

Governments need stronger plans to protect children, older people, and people with disabilities from increasingly common extreme heat. Officials should consult these communities to ensure that those most affected can help shape responses and prevent further harm and deaths.