Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, and the impacts of climate change here are clear, according to a new report.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have today (Tuesday, April 15) issued their second joint annual European State of the Climate report.
The report states that 2024 was the warmest year on record for Europe, with record temperatures in central, eastern and southeastern regions.
For the year as a whole, sea surface temperature (SST) for the European region was the highest on record, at 0.7°C above average, and for the Mediterranean Sea, at 1.2° above average.
Last year, storms in Europe claimed at least 335 lives and affected an estimated 413,000 people.
Europe also experienced the most widespread flooding since 2013. Almost one third of the river network saw flooding that exceeded at least the ‘high’ flood threshold.
In September, fires in Portugal burned around 110,000 ha in one week, representing around a quarter of Europe’s total annual burnt area.
An estimated 42,000 people were affected by wildfires in Europe in 2024.
During the year, the report noted there was a striking east-west contrast in climate conditions, with extremely dry and often record-warm conditions in the east, and warm but wet conditions in the west.
The numbers of days with ‘strong’, ‘very strong’ and ‘extreme heat stress’ were all the second highest on record. 60% of Europe saw more days than average with at least ‘strong heat stress’.
Meanwhile, there was a record low number of days with at least ‘strong cold stress’.
All European regions saw a loss of ice; glaciers in Scandinavia and Svalbard saw their highest rates of mass loss on record.
The report found that the proportion of electricity generation by renewables in Europe reached a record high in 2024, at 45%.
Europe
The European State of the Climate 2024 report involves around 100 scientific contributors.
“This report highlights that Europe is the fastest-warming continent and is experiencing serious impacts from extreme weather and climate change,” Celeste Saulo, WMO secretary general, said.
“Every additional fraction of a degree of temperature rise matters because it accentuates the risks to our lives, to economies and to the planet. Adaptation is a must.
“WMO and its partners are therefore intensifying efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services to help decision-makers and society at large to be more resilient.
“We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster, and we need to go together,” she said
Director of the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service, Carlo Buontempo, said: “2024 was the warmest year on record for Europe”.
“We observed the longest heatwave in southeastern Europe and record glacier mass loss in Scandinavia and Svalbard”.
“But 2024 was also a year of marked climate contrasts between eastern and western Europe.
“The European State of the Climate is a treasure trove of quality information about our changing climate. Learning how to use climate data and information to inform our decisions should become a priority for all of us,” he said.
