Brussels, Dec.29 (SANA) Europe experienced a series of severe natural disasters throughout 2025, including floods, drought, heatwaves and wildfires, with many countries still struggling to recover from their impact.
Experts warned, according to Euronews, that such extreme events could become the new normal unless urgent measures are taken to curb emissions that are driving their intensity and frequency. They explained that every one-degree rise in air temperature enables the atmosphere to retain about 7 percent more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall, while heatwaves worsen with each additional degree of warming.
The year began with powerful storms sweeping across parts of Europe.
Dozens of people were evacuated in Spain due to Storm Martinho, while the worst flooding in three decades disrupted operations at Romania’s historic Praid salt mine, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes.
During the summer months, heatwaves shattered temperature records across the continent, including in the Arctic Circle.
Temperatures in southern Europe exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, triggering widespread drought, health warnings and large-scale wildfires.
A study by researchers at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found that climate change was responsible for 68 percent of an estimated 24,400 heat-related deaths across 854 European cities. Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus recorded around 950 deaths during a single week in June, while Rome, Athens and Bucharest were the most affected capitals in terms of deaths relative to population size.
Meanwhile, an analysis by World Weather Attribution found that climate change made the conditions fueling wildfires in Portugal and Spain about 40 times more likely, resulting in casualties and the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
Economic losses caused by extreme weather were estimated at no less than €43 billion, with projections suggesting they could rise to €126 billion by 2029. Italy, France and Spain suffered the highest direct losses.
Scientists expect 2026 to be among the hottest years since records began in 1850, as the UK Met Office warned that average global temperatures could rise to 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, marking the fourth consecutive year to reach this level of warming.
