This summer, Europe’s weather has triggered widespread consternation and worry. Weeks without rain, record-breaking temperatures, failed harvests and widespread fires have been difficult to ignore, for the public, for investors — and for politicians. As the natural weather phenomenon El Nino builds into one of the strongest ever recorded, meteorologists are now looking ahead to next summer.
While it’s too early to forecast exactly what will happen, the U.K.’s Met Office is already saying that 2027 is likely to rival 2024 as Europe’s hottest year on record. Even if that doesn’t come to pass, climate change means future heat waves will be longer, more intense and more frequent than the record-breaking ones we have now. It is having repercussions on so many different levels of our economy, of our society.” That concern is reflected in polling.
After a record heat wave in France, an Ipsos survey in July found a 12-point increase in concern about the environment. Polling in Austria and the U.K. followed the same trend, which researchers at the Austrian market research firm INTEGRAL attributed to people’s direct experiences of heat and a sense that the country was ill-prepared. And there are some signs that governments are taking more notice of climate change in their policies.
In Germany, the environment minister is pushing to change the constitution and increase the central government’s responsibility for climate adaptation, after local governments said they didn’t have the resources to manage it effectively. In Spain, officials announced more funding for climate shelters, where people can seek refuge from heat, and for air conditioning in schools. In the U.K., the health secretary said the National Health Service (NHS) needs to prepare for more demand in the summer, just as the service currently plans for winter.
But for the most part, tangible changes will take longer. Europe’s hospitals are one example. Many are in older buildings in built-up urban areas and don’t have comprehensive air conditioning, leaving them particularly vulnerable to overheating.
In the U.K., nurses have been fainting at work and medical staff have warned that conditions are unsafe. That has focused minds in the health service, he added, since providers are under pressure to clear a significant waiting list. Even so, managers of hospitals and other healthcare facilities have many other demands on their time and budgets.
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