People clinging to tree tops to stay alive, thousands of homes crumbling, and roads rapidly transforming into rivers of mud.
These haunting images are not a dystopian prediction of what is to come: they are teh reality of extreme weather that has gripped the world in a deadly chokehold.
In Europe, flash floods, deadly heatwaves, droughts and record-breaking wildfires became the defining feature of 2025 – a legacy it is still scrambling to recover from.
But experts warn these events will likely become the “new normal” unless drastic action is taken to reduce heat-trapping emissions being released into the atmosphere.
Is climate change to blame for extreme weather?
While scientists refrain from pinpointing blame for specific extreme weather events, it’s widely agreed that climate change is fuelling their frequency and severity.
For every 1℃ rise in air temperature, the atmosphere can hold around seven per cent more moisture, which can lead to more intense and heavy rainfall.
“Human-induced climate change means that summer weather is occurring on top of a warmer background climate,” explains the National Center for Atmospheric Science.
“With every degree of warming to the Earth’s climate, the frequency and intensity of heatwaves are projected to get worse.”
Europe’s extreme weather in 2025
2025 kicked off with a stormy start, as violent winds swept across parts of France. Regions in the north, such as Charleville-Mézières, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Bar-le-Duc, were hit the hardest – experiencing frequent gusts that climbed up to 110 km/h.
By spring, extreme weather had hit several other European countries. Dozens were evacuated in central and northern Spain due to Storm martinho, while the worst flooding in three decades crippled Romania’s historic Praid salt mine. Hundreds of people were displaced, their homes damaged by days of torrential rain and strong winds.
But it was during the summer months when things really ramped up. Extreme heat broke temperature records across the continent, even far north in the usually cold Arctic Circle, where “truly unprecedented” heat soared above 30℃ on 13 days in july.
Finland endured three straight weeks of 30℃ temperatures, and struggled to cope with the blistering conditions.
An ice rink in the north of the country opened up to those seeking refuge from the heat,while local hospitals were inundated. The heatwave also sparked concerns over the welfare of reindeer, who risked overheating.
Further south, Europeans sweltered under temperatures exceeding 40℃ – pushing dozens of nations into drought. The intense heat soon turned into a continent-wide emergency, with several countries issuing health and wildfire warnings.
Madrid’s health ministry told people to keep out of the sun if possible, and pay close attention to the elderly and pregnant, while French authorities ordered public swimming pools to be free to help residents cool down.
In Italy,bans on outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day came into force. And in Greece, major tourist attractions were temporarily closed.
But deaths from extreme heat still occurred, and eventually started to make the headlines. Montse Aguilar, a 51-year-old street cleaner in Barcelona collapsed on the streets after enduring a grueling 35℃ while the city was placed under high alert.
Aguilar’s death sparked local protests, with hundreds of fellow street cleane
Here’s a breakdown of the deaths reported in the text:
* Heat Deaths: Approximately 24,400 estimated heat deaths occurred across 854 European cities this summer, with climate change responsible for 68% of them (around 16,592 deaths attributed to climate change).
* Specifically, around 950 heat deaths occurred between July 21-27 in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Cyprus.
* Individual country estimates (due to climate change):
* Italy: 4,597
* Spain: 2,841
* Germany: 1,477
* France: 1,444
* UK: 1,147
* Romania: 1,064
* Greece: 808
* Bulgaria: 552
* Croatia: 268
* Wildfire Deaths: At least 8 people died in the wildfires across Portugal and Spain.
Thus, the total number of deaths directly attributed to extreme weather in the text is at least 24,408.