2024 European State of the Climate: Striking east-west contrast and widespread flooding in Europe’s warmest year

The European State of the Climate 2024 (ESOTC 2024) report, released on 15 April 2025 by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), involves around 100 scientific contributors providing holistic yet concise insights into Europe’s climate, including through resources such as a brand-new graphics gallery with 130 charts and infographics. 

C3S is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission. Since 2018, the service has released the ESOTC, a detailed analysis of Europe's climate for the previous year, going beyond annual temperature with analyses of a wide range of climate variables, from heat and cold stress to sunshine duration and cloudiness, from wildfires to glaciers and much more. 

Widespread flooding, extreme heat and drought in eastern Europe

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the impacts of climate change here are clear. 2024 was the warmest year on record for Europe, with record temperatures in central, eastern and southeastern regions. Storms were often severe and flooding widespread, claiming at least 335 lives and affecting an estimated 413,000 people. During the year, there was a striking east-west contrast in climate conditions, with extremely dry and often record-warm conditions in the east, and warm but wet conditions in the west.

Spotlight topics for the ESOTC 2024 include an overview of flooding in Europe, with a focus on the extreme events in central and eastern Europe associated with Storm Boris, and those in Valencia, Spain, as well as the extreme heat and drought in southeastern Europe during the summer. 

 30% of the European river network exceeded the ‘high’ flood threshold during the year, while 12% exceeded the ‘severe’ flood threshold. In September, Storm Boris affected hundreds of thousands of people, with flooding, fatalities and damage in parts of Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania and Italy. 

 At the end of October, Spain saw extreme precipitation and flooding leading to devastating impacts and fatalities in the province of Valencia and neighbouring regions.

 Southeastern Europe experienced its longest heatwave on record in July 2024, lasting 13 consecutive days and affecting 55% of the region. There were record-breaking numbers of days with at least ‘strong heat stress’ (66) and tropical nights (23) in southeastern Europe during summer. 

 For the first time, these spotlight sections also provide information on trends in flooding, and extreme heat and drought in Europe, summarising key findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For example, Europe is one of the regions with the largest projected increase in flood risk, and a global warming of 1.5ºC could result in 30,000 annual deaths in Europe due to extreme heat. 

Visit the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) to learn more.