A severe heatwave across Europe during June 2026 caused the United Kingdom to lose 24 million working hours, according to a report published by the London School of Economics (LSE) on July 23, 2026. The study, conducted by the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), surveyed 1,950 adults to determine the economic impact of the extreme weather that affected regions from the Iberian Peninsula to Ukraine.

The findings indicate that workers in physically demanding sectors with high temperature exposure, such as construction and agriculture, reduced their hours significantly more than those in office or academic roles. While LSE and Sigmalive report the economic cost at €1.35 billion, RIK reports the figure as €1.035 billion. Furthermore, the survey found that 3.6% of the workforce missed work entirely during the week of June 22. This equates to approximately 1.25 million people according to LSE data, though RIK cites this as 1.025 million. The average reduction in working time during that week was 0.47 hours per employee, highlighting the broad impact of rising temperatures on national productivity.