This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Rising numbers of visitors headed for destinations in northern Europe in the summer of 2026, seeking respite from the heat. For years, summer holidays in Europe have followed a familiar pattern: head south in search of sunshine.
But climate change is beginning to turn that logic on its head. As temperatures rise across southern Europe, traditionally popular destinations are facing increasingly difficult summer conditions, from extreme hot temperatures to wildfires and water shortages. Rather than abandoning summer travel, some tourists are beginning to change the destinations they want to spend time in.
The trend has even acquired a name: the "coolcation." For an individual traveler, this can be a sensible response to rising temperatures. A cooler destination can make outdoor activities more comfortable and allow people to continue taking summer holidays while avoiding the most intense heat. For northern European destinations, this could look like an opportunity.
Northern Europe (defined as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the UK) recorded a 10% increase in visitor numbers between April and June 2026, compared with the same period in 2025, according to the European Travel Commission. One travel agent reported seeing a rise in searches for cooler destinations rise by 74% compared with 2025. Meanwhile, a travel app, Polarsteps, launched a summer heat escape index, analyzing the temperatures at 25 destinations, after it carried out a survey finding that 35% of British travelers had chosen a cooler summer destination in 2026.
But if enough people make the same decision, a destination that was attractive partly because it was cooler, quieter or less crowded can begin to experience the crowds associated with mass tourism, and potentially an environmental cost. The individual traveler is adapting successfully to climate change by moving away from heat. But that adaptation can redistribute tourism pressure towards destinations that may have less capacity to absorb it.
National tourism agency VisitBritain reported that flight bookings for Scottish destinations made during the six weeks ending mid-July rose 15%, compared with the same period in 2025. At the same time bookings for London, which was experiencing an extremely hot summer, dropped. Although Scotland also experienced hotter weather than usual at times, and did experience wildfires in the Cairngorms, it was far cooler than London and the south of England.
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