Climate change: Holidays in southern Europe are becoming a heat battle!

Climate change: Holidays in southern Europe are becoming a heat battle!

The summer months in southern Europe are increasingly characterized by extreme heat. Record temperatures of 33.7 degrees Celsius were recorded on Crete as early as March 2025, which clearly shows the consequences of climate change. Loud courier Both holidaymakers and locals suffered from this harmful heat in the summer of 2023, especially in Greece, where temperatures of up to 43 degrees were recorded in mid-July.

In Italy, cities such as Rome, Florence and Bologna were hit with a red alert, prompting official warnings from the Health Ministry. This recommended that the population stay indoors if possible in order to minimize the health risks. Meteorologist Michaela Koschak announces that such extreme temperatures could occur more frequently in the future, making the Mediterranean less attractive as a holiday destination.

Health risks and increasing death rates

The health consequences of these heat waves are alarming. According to Hans Kluge from the WHO, the effects of global warming are increasingly being felt in Europe. Between 2000 and 2019, around 489,000 people succumbed to heat-related causes annually worldwide, of which around 176,000 were recorded in Europe. Heat-related mortality in Europe has risen by 30 percent in the last 20 years, supporting scientific forecasts. Loud Mirror Climate change could cause an additional 2.3 million people to die in the future as a result of heat and cold.

The extreme temperatures also have an impact on nature: high temperatures and periods of drought lead to an increasing number of forest and wildfires in the summer months. Particularly affected are regions such as Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily in Italy, as well as campsites not close to the beach in Croatia, where the risk of forest fires is high. Natural disasters in Croatia can also lead to road closures and power outages.

Traveling under new conditions

Vacation planning is becoming increasingly complicated due to these risks. The Balearic and Canary Islands often experience heavy rainfall, which can result in flooding. Against this background, the Foreign Office has issued travel warnings for areas on the border with Syria and Iraq. Security levels 2 and 3 apply there.

The extremes of the climate can even be seen in Egypt, where temperatures of up to 50.9 degrees Celsius were measured in June 2024. During Hajj in Mecca, 1,301 people died due to extreme heat of 49 degrees Celsius. In view of these developments, meteorologist Koschak recommends considering holiday destinations in Scandinavia such as Sweden, Norway and Finland in the future. These regions could serve as an alternative to the increasingly unpredictable summer destinations in southern Europe.