Europeans are suffering with unprecedented heat during the day and are stressed by uncomfortable warmth at night. The death rate from hot weather has risen 30% in Europe in two decades, the joint State of the Climate report from the two organisations found.
The report found that temperatures across Europe were above average for 11 months of 2023, including the warmest September since records began.
The hot and dry weather fuelled large fires that ravaged villages and spewed smoke that choked far-off cities. The blazes that firefighters battled were particularly fierce in drought-stricken southern countries such as Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Heavy rain also led to deadly floods. Europe was about 7% wetter in 2023 than the average over the last three decades, the report found, and one-third of its river network crossed the “high” flood threshold. One-sixth hit “severe” levels.
The report did not give figures for the death toll from heat in 2023 but scientists have pegged the body count in 2022 at 70,000 extra deaths.