Climate change impacts are already being felt across Europe with heat-related deaths rising across the continent, according to a new analysis.
The 2026 Europe Report of the Lancet Countdown on Climate Change and Health, warns heat-related deaths have increasing with an estimated 62,000 in 2024.
According to the study, extreme heat warnings have surged three-fold, from just one annual daily extreme warning in 1991-2000, compared to 4.3 in 2015-2024.
And in 2023, food insecurity linked to heatwaves and drought affected more than one million additional people compared with previous decades.
The report argues the rise in extreme heat across Europe is affecting the most vulnerable the hardest, with infants, older adults, and outdoor workers are among those most affected.
It also warns economic inequalities are also aggravated, as low-income households are 10% more likely to experience food insecurity resulting from extreme weather events.
At the same time, the report adds climate change is driving the spread of infectious diseases.
The overall average risk for dengue outbreaks in Europe has almost quadrupled and climate change has prolonged the pollen season by one to two weeks compared to the 1990s, increasing exposure duration for hay fever sufferers.
One the report’s contributing authors, Dr. Shouro Dasgupta, from the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, said climate change impacts are already being felt in Europe and are no longer a distant threat, in an interview
Dr. Dasgupta said the report highlights the direct links between heat stress, labour force, and economic activity, with workers increasingly forced to cut their hours to protect their health from extreme temperatures.
“Healthcare sectors are being stressed due to climate change induced increases in morbidity, and many European countries are not equipped to deal with this stress currently,” he told me.
Dr. Dasgupta said the most affected region is Southern Europe, because it has higher baseline temperatures and large agricultural sector, with more people working outdoors.
He added the report also highlights how some infectious diseases are also on rise in Northern Europe as temperatures increases.
He said food insecurity is also becoming a growing concern, as many countries rely on imports from other parts of the world which are also facing their own climate change impacts, which is driving prices up.
“We are seeing all parts of the food system, from production to supply chain to access, being affected and people’s access to healthy and nutritious food being reduced due to climate change,” he told me.
“We have already seen these impacts in many low-income countries, but the fear is that in five to 10 years, we will see some of these food-insecurity induced health-related impacts among children in Europe.”
The report also claims Europe’s reliance on fossil fuels continues to expose people to health‑harming pollution and volatile energy markets.
It argues this dependence on fossil fuels keeps Europe exposed to geopolitical shocks and diverts resources that could accelerate the transition to cleaner, healthier energy systems.
Dr. Hannah Klauber, the Lancet Countdown Europe Working Group 4 co-lead (economics and finance), said the conflict in Iran brings renewed uncertainty and suffering for people across the region, in a statement.
Dr. Klauber added accelerating the transition to clean, secure energy is not only an environmental necessity, but a vital opportunity to safeguard for people’s wellbeing.”
But the report also notes there are signs of progress.
For example, in 2023, renewable electricity reached a record 21.5% of the European energy mix, more than double the share in 2016.
Carbon intensity and coal use both declined again in 2023, supported by clean energy investment that is now 86% higher than in 2015.
And air pollution related deaths from the power sector in the EU‑27 have fallen by 84% since 2000, and by 58% in the transport sector.
