Wallonia recorded more heat-wave deaths than Flanders — and the gap is structural
Belgian health institute Sciensano's excess-mortality monitoring showed a heavier death toll in Wallonia than in Flanders during the summer heat episode, a gap researchers link less to temperature than to housing quality, population age structure,…
In 30 seconds
- Sciensano's Be-MOMO excess-mortality monitoring showed a higher death toll relative to baseline in Wallonia than in Flanders during the heat episode, De Morgen reported on 24 July 2026.
- Researchers attribute the gap to housing quality, age structure, socio-economic deprivation and urban heat-island effects rather than to temperature differences between the regions.
- Heat prevention in Belgium is split: the federal Nationale Cel Ozon en Hitte issues warnings, while Flanders (Agentschap Zorg en Gezondheid) and Wallonia (AViQ) run separate outreach plans.
- The over-75s, people living alone and residents of poorly insulated housing account for the large majority of heat-related excess deaths, according to Sciensano's published methodology.
Sciensano is Belgium's federal public health institute; its Be-MOMO (Belgian Mortality Monitoring) system compares observed weekly deaths against a statistically expected baseline to produce excess-mortality estimates, the standard tool for measuring heat-wave impact. Belgium's health competences are split: the federal level runs the ozone-and-heat warning plan through the Nationale Cel Ozon en Hitte, while prevention and outreach are regional — the Agentschap Zorg en Gezondheid in Flanders, AViQ in Wallonia, and COCOM/Iriscare in Brussels. The Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI/IRM) declares a heat wave using its Uccle reference station. Urban heat island refers to the temperature surplus of built-up areas over surrounding countryside, driven by sealed surfaces and lack of vegetation, and is strongest at night.
Background
Belgium's heat-mortality monitoring dates from the aftermath of the August 2003 European heat wave, which caused roughly 15,000 excess deaths in France and several hundred in Belgium and prompted the creation of the federal ozone-and-heat plan. Sciensano (formed in 2018 from the merger of the WIV-ISP and CODA-CERVA) inherited the Be-MOMO monitoring system. The summers of 2019, 2020 and 2022 each produced measurable excess-mortality peaks, with the July 2019 record of 41.8°C at Begijnendijk still Belgium's highest recorded temperature.
What to do
During a heat warning, the single most effective action is checking on elderly or isolated neighbours and relatives, particularly after two or more consecutive tropical nights. Residents who need help can register with their municipal CPAS/OCMW social service, which maintains check-in lists in many communes. Keep shutters and windows closed during the day and ventilate at night; be aware that some cardiovascular and psychotropic medications impair the body's ability to regulate temperature — a question worth putting to a GP or pharmacist before a heat episode rather than during one.
The Belgian angle
Wallonia's older housing stock, higher income-deprivation rate and the dense terraced neighbourhoods of the Charleroi–Liège industrial belt concentrate heat risk. AViQ and municipal CPAS/OCMW social services carry the outreach burden. In Flanders, the Agentschap Zorg en Gezondheid coordinates the warmteactieplan, but the same ageing-plus-density dynamic is intensifying in inner Antwerp, Ghent and the Brussels periphery.
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- 24 Jul 2026, 02:00
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- 24 Jul 2026
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- 24 Jul 2026
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- 24 Jul 2026
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- 24 Jul 2026
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