• The annual report by Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization captures a picture of Europe's climate in 2024.
• As well as being the hottest ever recorded on the Continent, last year was also marked by the intensity of its floods.

In Europe, 2024 was the hottest year since temperatures have been systematically monitored. But there are many other reasons why, from a climate standpoint, it was well outside the norm. Such as the violent storms and floods that struck areas inhabited by 413,000 people, causing at least 335 deaths. Or the visible contrast between the eastern part of the Continent, grappling with heat and drought, and the western part, which experienced mild and rainy conditions. A comprehensive and reliable overview of the situation is provided by the report The European State of the Climate 2024, published by the European service Copernicus together with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

All the climate extremes in Europe in 2024

The report The European State of the Climate 2024 devotes considerable attention to floods, which proved catastrophic in certain cases. Such was the case with Storm Boris, which struck central Europe in September, reaching as far as Romagna. Just a month later it was the turn of the floods in Valencia. Over the course of the year, 30 per cent of Europe's river network exceeded the "high" flood threshold and 12 per cent exceeded the "severe" threshold. Moreover, data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lists Europe among the regions of the world that will be most exposed to flood risk in the future.

The IPCC also projects that with global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius – an optimistic prospect, given that we are on a trajectory towards 3 degrees – Europe could face 30,000 deaths per year from extreme temperatures. Already in 2024, as an average calculated across the entire Continent, twelve tropical nights were recorded (those in which the temperature does not drop below 20 degrees) along with nearly a month of days with intense heat stress (with a perceived temperature of at least 32 degrees). Conditions that also take a toll on people's physical health. This, of course, is an average. In 2024, southeastern Europe counted 23 tropical nights and 66 days of intense heat stress, and also experienced – last July – its longest heatwave on record, lasting 13 consecutive days.

Investing in adaptation, without neglecting mitigation

"The report underlines that Europe is the fastest-warming continent and is experiencing serious impacts from extreme weather and climate change," notes the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Celeste Saulo. "Every fraction of a degree of temperature rise counts, because it heightens the risks to our lives, our economies and our planet. Adaptation is an imperative. The WMO and its partners are therefore stepping up efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services that help policymakers, and society as a whole, to develop greater resilience. We are making progress but we need to go further and faster. And we need to move forward together."

It is therefore welcome news that 51 per cent of European cities have adopted an adaptation plan. Protecting people and assets is crucial, but it must not become a pretext for neglecting the other pillar of climate action, namely mitigation. This is reiterated by Antonello Pasini, climate physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Pollution Research of the National Research Council (CNR). "In this situation, we certainly need to adapt to extreme events that, given the inertia of the climate, we will continue to face over the coming decades, but we must also act swiftly on mitigation and the drastic reduction of emissions, otherwise we could reach scenarios in which it would be extremely difficult to defend ourselves through adaptation alone."

More and more renewables in the European energy mix

The other good news on this front is that in 2024 electricity production from renewable sources achieved a new European record, reaching 45 per cent of the total (in 2023 it had stood at 43 per cent). Twenty out of twenty-seven European countries now generate more electricity from clean sources than from fossil fuels: in 2019, the figure was just twelve.

But to cut emissions at a sufficient pace, it is equally necessary to abandon coal, oil and gas, and quickly. "In a volatile global economy, it is frankly insane to keep relying on imported fossil fuels – the primary cause of climate change – when renewables offer a cheaper and cleaner alternative," concludes Friederike Otto, co-director of World Weather Attribution.