While much of Eastern Europe faced rain shortages and droughts in 2024, Western Europe last year experienced its worst flooding since 2013, with 30% of Europe’s river network experiencing significant flooding on Tuesday, the 15th of April, scientists from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said in a joint report on Europe’s climate. They noted that fossil fuel-driven climate change has continued to stimulate torrential rains and other extreme weather, according to Reuters.
Floods in Europe in 2024 killed at least 335 people and affected more than 410 000 people.
In Western Europe, 2024 will rank among the ten wettest years on record in the region since 1950. Storms and floods are the most costly weather events in Europe, causing more than 18 billion euros in damage last year.
The year 2024 was the hottest on record and Europe, the fastest warming continent, was also the warmest.
The planet is now about 1.3°C hotter than pre-industrial times, mainly due to human-induced climate change.
“Every fraction of a degree increase in temperature is important because it increases the risk to our lives, our economies and our planet,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
The report highlighted positive aspects, including the fact that renewables produced a record 45% of Europe’s energy in 2024, while most European cities have plans in place to better adapt to climate change.
However, extreme weather events were recorded across the continent. South-eastern Europe experienced its longest heatwave on record, lasting 13 days, while Scandinavia experienced its fastest glacier shrinkage on record and heat stress increased across the continent.
In 2024, almost a third of Europe’s rivers were at high flood levels and 12% were exceeding severe flood levels.
Most of the flood-related deaths and damage in Europe in 2024 occurred during the devastating floods in Valencia in October, when 232 people died. Before that, in September, Storm Boris brought record rainfall to Central Europe, affecting Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia.
Scientists have confirmed that climate change has increased the likelihood of such downpours, as a hotter atmosphere can hold more water, which also causes heavy rain. Atmospheric water vapour reached a record high in 2024.
Other factors that influence flooding are river management and urban planning, which determine whether houses and infrastructure are built in flood-prone areas.