DAILY STAR
Europe has suffered from scorching temperatures this summer, but the roasting summer of 20 years ago left 20,000 people dead in a record-breaking heatwave.
For the first time in 500 years, temperatures reached, at the time, record-breaking highs which killed 2,000 people in the UK alone, a grim statistic which lined up with the highest heat record in the country.
According to reports from the Met Office, the 2003 heatwave saw the UK rack up the fourth-highest death toll in heat-related incidents with its tragic death toll.
France had the dubious honour of taking top spot, with 15,000 people succumbing to dehydration, heatstroke and even drowning when trying to cool off in lakes and rivers.
It was reportedly the hottest summer recorded in Europe since at least 1540.
Maximum temperatures were reached in parts of the world also, with some countries breaking their temperature record.
An eye-watering 38.5C was recorded in Brogdale in Kent on August 10, a record which has since been surpassed every year since 2019.
