Title page 1

Contents 6

1. Flooding 8

2. Heat and drought in southeastern Europe 14

3. Temperature 19

4. Thermal stress 24

5. Wildfires 28

6. Snow and glaciers 32

7. Precipitation 37

8. Soil moisture 41

9. River flow 44

10. Lakes 48

11. European ocean 51

12. Winds and circulation 55

13. Clouds and sunshine 59

14. Renewable energy resources 62

15. Arctic temperature 66

16. Arctic wildfires 71

17. Arctic Ocean 74

18. Resilience of the built environment to climate extremes 79

19. Trends in climate indicators 86

About the report and Acknowledgements 94

About us 96

List of figures 97

References 101

Figures 9

Figure 1.1. Percentage of the European river network that exceeded the 'high' (orange) and 'severe' (purple) flood thresholds during 1992-2024.... 9

Figure 1.2. (Left) Total precipitation (mm) during Storm Boris from 12-16 September 2024 10

Figure 1.3. (Left) Total precipitation (mm) in Spain on 29 October 2024 11

Figure 2.1. Heatwaves in southeastern Europe in 2024, alongside the 15 most severe heatwaves in southeastern Europe since 1950. The circle size is proportional... 15

Figure 2.2. Anomalies in the nuvber of days with at least 'strong heat stress' and the number of tropical nights in southeastern Europe,... 17

Figure 3.1. Annual surface air temperature anomalies over European (as defined by the WMO Regional Association VI) land, from a range of datasets,... 20

Figure 3.2. Average daily surface air temperature for European (as defined by C3S) land for 2024, showing warmer‑than‑average (orange shading),... 21

Figure 3.3. The percentage of European land experiencing 'frost days' (days with a minimum temperature of 0℃ or lower) for specific time periods (shades of red):... 23

Figure 4.1. Number of days with at least 'strong heat stress' in 2024, and associated anomalies, relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period.... 25

Figure 4.2. Number of tropical nights in 2024 and associated anomalies relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period. Tropical nights are those during... 26

Figure 5.1. Anomalies in the number of days with a Fire Weather Index of 50 or above (indicating 'extreme' fire danger) in Europe in 2024,... 29

Figure 5.2. Distribution and extent of burnt areas across Europe and the Mediterranean in 2024 30

Figure 6.1. Anomalies in the number of snow days during winter 2024, relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period, showing more snow days... 33

Figure 6.2. Mass change of glaciers across Europe for the 1 October 2023-30 September 2024 hydrological year, showing positive balances (increase of ice) (blue)... 34

Figure 7.1. Anomalies and extremes in annual precipitation in 2024. The extreme categories ('wettest' and 'driest') are based on rankings for 1979-2024.... 38

Figure 7.2. Anomalies and extremes in monthly precipitation in 2024. The extreme categories ('wettest' and 'driest') are based on rankings for 1979-2024.... 39

Figure 7.3. The anomaly in the number of wet days, where the 24‑hour accumulated precipitation is at least 1mm, in 2024, from ‑50 days (dark brown)... 40

Figure 8.1. Annual surface soil moisture anomalies in 2024, showing positive (green) and negative (brown) anomalies, expressed as a percentage... 41

Figure 8.2. (Top) Areas of Europe with record wet or dry monthly conditions in 2024, showing record wet (green) and record dry (brown) conditions,... 43

Figure 9.1. Monthly average river flow (m³/s) for Europe, showing below‑average (orange dots) and above‑average (blue dots) river flow,... 44

Figure 9.2. Anomalies and extremes in annual average river flow in 2024. The extreme categories ('highest' and 'lowest') are based on rankings for 1992-2024.... 45

Figure 9.3. Anomalies and extremes in monthly average river flow in 2024. The extreme categories ('highest' and 'lowest') are based on rankings for 1992-2024.... 47

Figure 10.1. Lake surface water temperature anomalies, relative to the average for the 1995-2020 reference period, for 267 European lakes.... 49

Figure 10.2. Lake water level (coloured dots) anomalies (metres) in Europe for June-September, relative to the average for the 2015-2022 reference period.... 50

Figure 11.1. (Left) Annual average sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for 1982-2024, relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period,... 52

Figure 11.2. (Left) Daily sea surface temperatures for the Mediterranean Sea as a whole during 2023 (orange) and 2024 (red), and previous years since 1982 (grey).... 53

Figure 12.1. (Left) Annual average anomalies (purple and orange shades) in geopotential height (metres) and wind vectors at 850 hPa for 2024.... 56

Figure 12.2. Anomalies and extremes in monthly 10 m wind speed in 2024. The extreme categories ('lowest' and 'highest') are based on rankings for 1979-2024.... 58

Figure 13.1. (Left) Annual sunshine duration anomalies for Europe for 1983-2024, showing positive (orange) and negative (grey) anomalies.... 60

Figure 13.2. (Left) Annual cloud cover anomalies for Europe for 1983-2024, showing positive (blue) and negative (orange) anomalies.... 61

Figure 14.1. Percentage of the total actual annual electricity generation for Europe, from solar (yellow), wind (purple) and hydro (blue) power, for 2016-2024.... 63

Figure 14.2. Annual anomalies in potential power generation from two renewable sources in Europe in 2024: onshore wind capacity factor (left),... 63

Figure 14.3. Daily anomalies (seven‑day running average) in the potential for power generation from run‑of‑river hydropower, solar photovoltaic and onshore wind,... 64

Figure 15.1. (Left) Annual average surface air temperature anomalies from 1979-2024, relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period,... 67

Figure 15.2. Anomalies and extremes in surface air temperature over the north polar region for each month of 2024. The extreme categories ('coolest' and 'warmest')... 68

Figure 15.3. (Left) Anomalies and extremes in surface air temperature in summer (June to August) 2024. The extreme categories ('coolest' and 'warmest')... 69

Figure 16.1. (Left) Annual total estimated carbon emissions (million tonnes) from wildfires from all land areas in northern high latitudes (north of 60°N)... 72

Figure 16.2. Map showing soil moisture anomalies, locations and total wildfire radiative energy (megajoules per m²) (red dots) of wildfires in June-August 2024.... 73

Figure 17.1. (Left) Daily Arctic sea ice extent from 1979-2024, highlighting 2024 (dark blue line), 2023 (teal line), and 2012 (salmon line;... 75

Figure 17.2. Monthly average sea ice concentration anomalies in 2024, relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period.... 76

Figure 17.3. Anomalies and extremes in annual sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice surface temperature (IST) in 2024. The extreme categories... 78

Figure 18.1. Identified climate risks for the infrastructure cluster, including urgency to act, projected severity in the current, mid‑ and late‑century,... 80

Figure 18.2. Overview of the reported types of adaptation actions[R21], using the Key Type Measure classification, and dividing Europe according to the megaregions... 82

Figure 18.3. Evolution of European policy relevant to adaptation, national adaptation plans and strategies, and number of signatories to the Covenant of Mayors... 84

Figure 19.1. Trend in annual surface air temperature (℃/decade) for 1995-2024 87

Figure 19.2. Time series of anomalies in the heat content of the global ocean from 1975-2024 in the upper 300 m (dark blue), 700 m (light blue), 2000 m (red)... 89

Figure 19.3. Cumulative mass change of the Greenland Ice Sheet since 1972 and its corresponding contribution to sea level rise. The shading represents... 91

Figure 19.4. Global concentration of atmospheric column‑averaged CO₂ (ppm) as measured by satellites for 2003-2024, showing monthly values (dotted line)... 93