This summer’s heatwaves, droughts, and floods are expected to cost the European economy more than €120 billion in the long term, according to a new study.
"It’s estimated that between June and August 2025, extreme weather events in these regions will cost the economy nearly €43 billion and €126 billion by 2029," Sehrish Usman from the University of Mannheim, the study's lead author, told RFI.
In total, experts calculated that around 100 heat waves, almost 200 droughts and more than 50 floods hit various regions of Europe.
The researchers did not only account for direct losses such as the destruction of roads or crops, they also looked at the long-term impact.
"A heatwave, for example, reduces both working hours and productivity, affects people’s health, and influences investment in the region, employment, demographics – even sectors like tourism," Usman said.
France, Spain, and Italy were some of the worst affected countries, and each already faces over €10 billion of losses this year, which could exceed €30 billion in the medium term.
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The study’s authors warn that their figures are likely an underestimate, as they do not fully reflect the compounding effects of simultaneous events – like heatwaves and droughts, which often occur together – nor do they include other impacts of climate change, such as wildfires.
The researchers stress the urgent need for adaptation wherever possible, and they call for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to try to curb the effects of global warming.
Severe drought across Europe
More than half of Europe and the Mediterranean basin was affected by drought in the first ten days of August, according to an analysis of European Drought Observatory (EDO) data, compiled by French news agency AFP.
The 51.3 percent figure is the highest level registered for the period of 1 - 10 August since data collection began in 2012.
Around half of the area has been affected by drought since mid-April 2025, a situation worse than the severe drought of the summer of 2022.
The Drought Observatory Indicator determined by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service uses satellite imagery to measure precipitation or rainfall, soil moisture and the state of vegetation.
Europe’s heatwave dries fields and leaves farmers counting crop losses
Last week, Copernicus reported the world's third-hottest August on record.
The average temperature globally for August was 1.29 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, marginally cooler than the monthly record set in 2023 and tied with 2024.
Such incremental rises may appear small, but scientists warn that is already destabilising the climate and making storms, floods and other disasters fiercer and and more frequent.
In its monthly bulletin, Copernicus said that western Europe experienced the continent's most pronounced above-average temperatures, with southwest France and the Iberian Peninsula particularly affected.
Spain suffered a 16-day heatwave that caused more than 1,100 deaths, according to the Carlos III Health Institute.
(with newswires)
