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Summer in Europe is getting longer: Extreme heat now lasts up to 5 months in cities like Tirana and Athens

2025-07-06 14:36:00Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Summer in Europe is getting longer

Prolonged hot weather is reshaping Europe's cities, as temperatures above 32°C extend into autumn.

As global temperatures continue to rise, European cities are experiencing extreme heat for much longer than the traditional summer months.

Some cities in Europe now endure high temperatures for up to five months a year, claims a new study from Climate Resilience for All.

The analysis, led by the NGO's meteorological team, looked at temperature data from 2019 to 2023 in 85 cities around the world. It focused on the first and last days when each city reached 32°C, a threshold for extreme heat that poses serious risks to health and the environment.

They found that so-called 'heat seasons' are no longer confined to the familiar summer months and are now much longer in duration. On average, the team, led by climate scientist Dr. Larry Kalkstein, says heat seasons last 214 days across all the cities they examined.

Extremely hot days occurred at any time of year in 20 of the 85 cities.

In which cities in Europe does the heat season last the longest?

In Europe, hot seasons now extend well beyond what was once considered summer.

The study says Athens in Greece now faces one of the longest heat seasons on the continent, with high temperatures lasting around 145 days, from mid-May to early October.

Tirana, the capital of Albania, ranks second by a narrow margin on the “Climate Resilience for All” list with 143 days of extreme heat.

In Portugal, the hot season in Lisbon lasts about 136 days, from late spring to early autumn. Madrid in Spain experiences a hot season of 119 days, extending from late May to mid-September.

Paris officials are preparing for a 4°C warming, but the French capital is already experiencing nearly three months of extreme heat, with temperatures above 32°C from mid-June to mid-September.

Munich and Warsaw have shorter, but still significant, hot seasons, lasting about a month or two.

Why are longer heat seasons a problem?

Previous studies have found that human-caused climate change added an average of 30 days of extreme heat for about half the world's population last year. That means four billion people were exposed to prolonged, dangerous temperatures.

The study by World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross Climate Center looked at the period between May 2024 and May 2025. It found that climate change at least doubled the number of days classified as “extreme heat” in 195 of the 247 countries and territories they analyzed compared to the previous average.

Europe is one of the regions already suffering the most visible and deadly consequences of global warming. Prolonged periods of heat highlight how the continent's climate is changing and the health and infrastructure concerns that come with this change.

Longer heat seasons mean an increased risk of heat-related illnesses, leading to a greater burden on healthcare systems and challenges for vulnerable populations. It is particularly problematic for the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

“This analysis makes it clear: we can no longer treat heat as a normal part of summer,” says Kathy Baughman McLeod, CEO of Climate Resilience for All.

“The 'summer season' that many of us once knew is gone.”

Why are cities so hot?

The study highlights the urban heat island effect, where cities become hotter than surrounding rural areas due to dense infrastructure and limited green space, as a key factor exacerbating heat stress in Europe's urban centers.

"Cities that were never designed for heat are now facing new heat shocks and stresses," explains Baughman McLeod.

With heat seasons extending well beyond the familiar summer months, governments and city planners face an urgent challenge: how to protect people from increasingly frequent and prolonged heat waves?/ Euronews Green

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