[mewzilla]

Remember the European heatwave back in 2003? That killed tens of thousands of people, mostly elderly. If most of the dead in this case are elderly, a death toll this high doesn’t surprise me.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Remember the European heatwave back in 2003? That killed tens of thousands of people, mostly elderly. If most of the dead in this case are elderly, a death toll this high doesn’t surprise me."

But a heat wave is different; unless you have air-conditioning, which I am sure many elderly don't have, you can't escape the heat. But unless we are talking about homeless people, the elderly would presumably live in heated buildings during a cold spell, so would be protected from the worst effects of the cold.