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CLIMATE CRISIS

How 2022 compares to Europe’s hottest summers

In just over two decades, Europe has experienced its five hottest summers since 1500. As temperatures rise above 40C across Europe this week here's a look at the history of recent heatwaves that have hit the continent.

Published: 18 July 2022 13:33 CEST
How 2022 compares to Europe's hottest summers
Tactical firefighters in yellow suits, and supporting firefighters, set fires to burn a plot of land as they attempt to prevent the wild fire from spreading due to wind change, as they fight a forest fire near Louchats in Gironde, southwestern France on July 17, 2022. - France was on high alert on July 18, 2022, as the peak of a punishing heatwave gripped the country, while wildfires raging in parts of southwest Europe showed no sign of abating. (Photo by THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP)

Europe’s increasingly frequent heatwaves are back under the spotlight over devastating wildfires and with sweltering temperatures forecast to hit record highs in Britain and France this week.

On Monday July 18th the European Commission warned that more than half of the EU territory was a risk of suffering a drought due to the lack of recent rainfall and the scorching temperatures.

2022: Double trouble

A heatwave engulfing western Europe, the second in a month, sparks huge wildfires and threatens to smash records in Britain and France.

Fires in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain force thousands of residents and tourists to flee and kill several people, including a Spanish shepherd and a firefighter.

Firefighters stand on a road as heavy smoke is seen in the background during forest fires near the city of Origne, south-western France, on July 17, 2022. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)

Britain braces for an all-time high of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or more. Brittany in France could also register similar temperatures in what would be a regional record.

The weather warnings come hot on the heels of a scorching spell in June, where parts of Europe, from Spain to Germany, sizzled at unseasonal highs of between 40C to 43C.

2021: Hottest ever

Last year is Europe’s hottest summer on record, according to the European climate change monitoring service Copernicus.

Between late July and early August 2021, Greece endures what Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls the country’s worst heatwave in over 30 years, with temperatures hitting 45C in some regions. In Spain, temperatures reach 47C in parts of the south, according to national weather agency AEMET.

A helicopter drops water as fires rage in Navalmoral de la Sierra near Avila at center of Spain on August 16, 2021. (Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)

The heat and drought spark large wildfires along the Mediterranean, from Turkey and Greece to Italy and Spain.

2019: Northern Europe swelters

The summer of 2019 brings two heatwaves, which leave around 2,500 people dead, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters of Belgium’s Louvain University.

In France, temperatures hit a record 46C on June 28 in the southern town of Verargues. Thousands of schools are closed.

A picture taken on July 25, 2019 shows a board displayed in an office building and reading 41 Celsius in Stuttgart, as a new record high temperature was recorded in Germany, amid a Europe wide heatwave, breaking the previous hottest figure reached the previous day. (Photo by Marijan Murat / dpa / AFP) / Germany OUT

On July 24 and 25, northern Europe fries in record heat. Temperatures of 42.6C are recorded at Lingen in northwestern Germany, 41.8C in Begijnendijk in northern Belgium and 38.7C in the eastern English city of Cambridge.

2018: Drought drains the Danube

The second half of July and beginning of August 2018 sees very high temperatures across much of Europe and rivers running dry due to drought.

The Danube falls to its lowest level in 100 years in some areas, notably exposing World War II tanks in Serbia that were submerged since the conflict.

Portugal and Spain suffer hugely destructive forest fires.

2017: Months of mugginess

Much of Europe, but especially the south, sweats from late June to well into August.

Spain set a record of 47.3C on July 13 in the southern town of Montoro.

Persistent drought sparks forest fires in Portugal.

2015: Back-to-back heatwaves

It’s heatwave after heatwave throughout the summer of 2015 which leaves an estimated 1,700 people dead in France.

In Britain, roads melt and trains are delayed in the hottest July on record, with temperatures reaching 36.7C at Heathrow airport.

2007: Greek forests ablaze

Central and southern Europe are parched by drought throughout June and July, provoking a spate of forest fires in Italy, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Locals use branches to estinguish a fire in Kato Kotyli village in central Peloponnese 30 August 2007. The fires that wrought a trail of destruction across Greece for a week were mostly under control as people counted the cost of a disaster that has claimed 63 lives. (Photo by Yiannis Dimitras / AFP)

In Hungary, 500 people die as a result of the heat.

2003: 70,000 dead

Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal all experience exceptional heat in the first half of August, with Portugal suffering a record 47.3C at Amareleja in the south.

An EU study of 16 nations puts the number of excess deaths across the bloc during the heatwave as high as 70,000, with France and Italy each seeing between 15,000 and 20,000 fatalities, according to various reports since.

The 2003 heatwave in France caused the deaths of many elderly people and led to a change in the government’s approach to dealing with heatwaves. PHOTO JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK (Photo by Jean-Philippe KSIAZEK / AFP)

In France, most of the victims are elderly people in an episode that traumatises the country and leads to the implementation of new systems of protection during heatwaves.

Member comments

  1. Climate change is impacting us all but while it’s bad in Europe now both Africa and Asia get it worse.

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SHOPPING

Number of Swedes buying second-hand has more than doubled in five years

In 2018, only 28 percent of Swedes bought second-hand clothes. Last year, that number increased to 75 percent, according to a new report by Swedish second-hand chain Myrorna, which described it as a “complete U-turn”. Why is this?

Published: 22 April 2024 13:37 CEST
Number of Swedes buying second-hand has more than doubled in five years

“Consumer attitudes and behaviours are changing,” consumer researcher Gabriella Wulff, who specialises in the fashion and textile industry, wrote in the report.

Swedish consumers’ attitudes towards second-hand items have changed drastically in the past five years. According to Myrorna, the second-hand market is currently worth more than ever at 20 billion kronor a year, and trade association Svensk Handel expects it to grow by 1.5 billion kronor this year alone.

“It’s no longer just a small number of people shopping second-hand as they can’t afford new clothing,” Wulff said. 

“Instead, we see that second hand has become a hype and that it’s linked to positive values.”

Younger people are more likely to buy clothes or other items second-hand than older people, whether that’s in a brick-and-mortar shop or online, and younger people were also more likely to sell their own items on the second-hand market, with older individuals more likely to donate items or clothing to second-hand shops, like Myrorna or similar shops like Stadsmissionen and Röda Korset. 

More than four in five of those interviewed – 86 percent – said that they sell or donate used items rather than throwing them away, with 72 percent of that group saying they prefer to donate rather than sell.

Why do Swedes buy second-hand?

The vast majority (91 percent) of people Myrorna interviewed – both men and women – said that the primary reason they buy second-hand items is because it’s cheaper than buying new, with the second most popular answer being the environmental benefit.

Almost three quarters of interviewees – 73 percent – were worried about the climate and the future of the planet, with 78 percent saying it is necessary to buy and use second-hand items in order to solve the climate crisis.

The third most popular answer differed between genders. Women said that they liked to buy second-hand as it’s a “fun way to shop”, while men appreciated the fact that they could find unique items.

“Many people like to buy second-hand, partly because it offers a different kind of experience than buying new,” consumer researcher Åsa Callmer, specialising in sustainable consumption, wrote in Myrorna’s report.

“This is partly because people can shop with a better conscience, as they’re not buying a new item of clothing or a new gadget which has been produced in conditions that hurt both people and the environment, and partly because they can buy clothes and items which have their own history.”

“Finding deals and combining these to create a personal style is completely different than buying newly-produced fast-fashion, and many second-hand consumers see it as an important part of their identity.”

What do they buy?

Items purchased in second-hand shops also differed between genders. The most popular items to buy second-hand for both genders were clothes, with 51 percent of women and 22 percent of men saying they bought these items second-hand.

The next most popular items for women were glass and porcelain (35 percent), children’s clothing (29 percent), furniture (28 percent), books and accessories (both 27 percent). Men, on the other hand, had furniture in second place (22 percent), followed by electronics and books (both 20 percent), glass and porcelain (15 percent) and tools (14 percent).

The least popular item for Swedes to buy second-hand was shoes, with over a third of interviewees saying they wouldn’t even consider doing so.

Do Swedes buy more second-hand than newly produced items?

No, at least not where clothes are concerned. On average, Swedes buy 50 new items of clothing per person per year, spending an average of 9,600 kronor a year. That compares to only 1,094 kronor on second-hand clothing – so only a tenth of a Swede’s clothing budget is used on second hand clothes.

“There’s a big step between starting to buy second-hand and adopting a circular lifestyle,” Callmer said. “In order to adopt a circular lifestyle, second-hand items need to replace purchases of newly produced items to a greater degree. Otherwise you’re just buying more items in total, and for a circular economy to be sustainable, the total number of items being produced and consumed needs to decrease.”

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