Europeans experienced unprecedented number of ‘extreme heat stress’ days in 2023

Europe faced a record number of extreme heat stress days in 2023, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate monitoring service and the World Meteorological Organization.

The continent experienced a July heatwave that affected 41 percent of southern Europe, along with catastrophic flooding, severe droughts, violent storms, and the largest forest fires on record.

The Universal Thermal Climate Index, used in the study, measures the effect of the environment on the human body, taking into account factors like humidity and wind speed.

According to experts the extreme heat poses particular risks to outdoor workers, the elderly, and those with health conditions.

The WMO reports indicates that heat-related deaths in Europe have increased by about 30 percent in the past 20 years, warning that Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, with heatwaves likely to become longer and more powerful in the future.