There were relatively few heat-related deaths in the Netherlands during the heatwaves  this summer, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

There was an average of 2,714 deaths every week during the heatwaves, about 100 more than during a normal week in the summer, the CBS said.

By way of comparison, there were an additional 400 deaths every week during the long heatwave in the summer of 2006.

There have been two official heatwaves so far this year: from July 15 to 27 and between August 6 and 15. The second goes down as the longest and most intense in at least 100 years.

Earlier research by the CBS confirms that deaths increase as the mercury rises. An estimated 1,000 additional people died during the 2006 heatwave than in normal weeks that summer.

The CBS said the death rate this summer may have been tempered by higher-than-usual flu-related deaths this past winter.