BRUSSELS – Europe had the warmest summer on record in 2022, contributing to thousands of deaths, marine heatwaves and extreme weather, an analysis has found.

The continent warmed to 2.3 deg C above the pre-industrial average in 2022, a joint report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.

Sea surface temperatures reached record highs and there was also “unprecedented” glacier melting, the agencies said. 

Overall climate and weather hazards led to 16,365 deaths, mostly relating to heatwaves, and caused US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in damage, largely connected with floods and storms. 

“Summer was the hottest ever recorded: The high temperatures exacerbated the severe and widespread drought conditions, fuelled violent wildfires that resulted in the second-largest burnt area on record, and led to thousands of heat-associated excess deaths,” said Dr Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the WMO. 

The report comes as scientists are already saying there is a good chance 2023 could be the hottest year on record globally. 

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, the report’s authors said.

It faces pressure on its energy and transport infrastructure as well as healthcare systems from extreme weather that has been exacerbated by climate change.

In 2022, a heatwave brought record high temperatures to multiple European countries.

There were also floods in Italy, Portugal and Greece.

“This measurement of 2.3 deg C of climate change over Europe is shocking news,” said professor of climate processes William Collins from Britain’s University of Reading. “The traditional focus on global temperatures tends to overlook the fact that over Europe the rate of warming can approach double the global average.”

Several countries, including Germany, Spain and Britain, had their warmest year on record in 2022, and overall annual average temperature was between the second and fourth-highest on record, depending on the metric used.

Rain and snow was below average across much of the continent.

It was the fourth dry year in a row for Spain and Portugal, and the third in a row for the Alps and Pyrenees, the report found.

In a more hopeful sign, 2022 was also the first in which wind and solar generated more electricity than natural gas in the EU, producing 22.3 per cent compared with 20 per cent from gas, according to analysis from the energy think-tank Ember. This was partly due to a big increase in solar power capacity. BLOOMBERG