Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat?
- 01A heat dome in the week before the article was written shattered temperature records for May in the UK and Ireland.
- 02An environmental epidemiologist's early modelling estimated 250 extra deaths in the UK alone on the weekend before temperatures peaked during the recent heatwave.
- 03A study in September attributed two in every three heat deaths in European cities to climate breakdown.
- 04A survey of European countries in 2024 found that 21 of 38 countries had heat-health action plans.
- 05Barcelona's climate shelter program, which began in 2020, grew to more than 400 shelters.
- 06In December, Pedro Sánchez announced a national network of climate shelters in Spain as part of a 'state pact to tackle the climate emergency.'
- 07The UK government's official climate advisers recommended that air conditioning be installed in all care homes and hospitals within 10 years and in all schools within 25 years.
- 08A 2023 study found that northern European countries such as the UK, Switzerland and Norway will experience the greatest relative rise in uncomfortable temperatures.
- 09The World Meteorological Organisation warned on Tuesday of the imminent return of the warming weather pattern El Niño.
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Europe is experiencing increasingly dangerous heatwaves as summer begins, with a recent heat dome killing an estimated 250 extra people in the UK alone. A survey found that only 21 of 38 European countries have heat-health action plans, though Barcelona and other cities have expanded climate shelters—air-conditioned public spaces where residents can cool down—with the model now spreading across the continent. The UK government's climate advisers have recommended installing air conditioning in care homes, hospitals, and schools over the next decade, as northern European countries face their greatest relative temperature increases.