Last year was the hottest year on record for Europe, with record-high annual temperatures in almost half of the continent.
The latest European State of the Climate report from the EU’s Copernicus service (C3S) shows that 45 per cent of days were much warmer than average, and 12 per cent were the warmest on record.
More than 100 scientific experts came together to demonstrate that the impacts of climate change in Europe – which is warming twice as fast as the global average – were abundantly clear in 2024.
Storms were often severe, flooding was widespread, and parts of the continent were gripped by record-breaking heatwaves.
Experts from C3S and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warn that “additional fraction of a degree of temperature rise matters” as it accentuates the risk to people’s lives, to economies and to the planet.
How is Europe experiencing the ‘serious impacts’ of climate change?
The 2024 report “highlights that Europe is the fastest-warming continent and is experiencing serious impacts from extreme weather and climate change,” according to WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo.
All European regions saw a loss of ice last year as glaciers in Scandinavia and Svalbard experienced their highest rates of mass loss on record.
Wildfires in Portugal in September burned 110,000 hectares of land in a week – a quarter of Europe’s total annual burnt area for 2024. In total, blazes across the continent impact 42,000 people.
Flooding also had a dramatic and often deadly impact on communities across Europe. In September, Storm Boris affected hundreds of thousands of people with flooding, fatalities and damage in parts of Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania and Italy.
Then, at the end of October in Spain, extreme precipitation brought flooding with devastating impacts and fatalities for people in Valencia and neighbouring regions.
At least 232 people lost their lives in Valencia, with further fatalities in the provinces of Albacete, Cuenca and Malaga. Infrastructure damage and economic losses were severe, totalling around €16.5 billion.
Storms and flooding across Europe last year affected a total of 413,000 people, led to the loss of at least 335 lives and are estimated to have cost at least €18 billion in damages.
Extreme heat, too, was a problem for many in 2024. In July, southeastern Europe experienced its longest heatwave on record, lasting 13 consecutive days and affecting 55 per cent of the region.
In total, there were record-breaking numbers of days with at least ‘strong heat stress’ (66) and tropical nights (23) in southeastern Europe during the summer.
