An overheated Europe, an underprepared world
3 min readJun 30, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Jun 30, 2026 at 06:05 AM IST For several years, weather extremes seemed a distant crisis for much of the Western world. The devastating heatwave of 2023 did leave an imprint on the ecological consciousness of a section of Europeans. But it’s only been about a decade since people outside the developing world began to feel the impact of global warming acutely. In Europe, temperature records were broken during the summers of 2019, 2022 and 2023. The hot weather has been particularly distressing for people across the continent this year. Temperatures have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in several countries, red alerts have spread across France and other parts of Europe, schools have shut, transport systems have been disrupted, and health services have come under immense pressure. The UK has recorded its hottest June day on record, while Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have all experienced conditions that until recently would have been considered highly unusual. The exact toll taken by the climate …
