Europe’s Summer of Nightmares
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
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Devastating heat waves and wildfires ravaging Europe have inflicted billions in losses and displaced hundreds of thousands, with scientists warning that the continent faces an accelerating climate crisis threatening food security and energy supplies. European leaders now view climate change as a direct national security emergency reshaping the continent's future.
Europe's Heat Wave, Wildfires Fuel Economic, Energy Pain
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Analysis:
Europe’s Summer of Nightmares
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Analysis
Europe’s Summer of Nightmares
Punishing heat and wildfires have cost billions and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
By **Christina Lu**, a staff writer at *Foreign Policy*.
!Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic on the shore of Lake Lacanau as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from the Gironde wildfire in Lacanau, France.
*Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic on the shore of Lake Lacanau as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from the Gironde wildfire in Lacanau, France.*
Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic on the shore of Lake Lacanau as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from the Gironde wildfire in Lacanau, France, on July 24. Maximilien Lamy/AFP via Getty Images
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August 10, 2026, 6:00 AM
It’s been far from an idyllic summer for Europe, where powerful wildfires have incinerated France and Spain, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and driving what has likely been both countries’ largest peacetimeevacuations ever.
If regions haven’t been torched, they may be parched. Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers.
It’s been far from an idyllic summer for Europe, where powerful wildfires have incinerated France and Spain, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and driving what has likely been both countries’ largest peacetimeevacuations ever.
If regions haven’t been torched, they may be parched. Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers.
For some countries, the lack of water has had such immense energy implications that authorities have resorted to detonating explosives at riverbeds in hopes that the blasts will help to redirect much-needed cooling water to a nearby nuclear reactor.
“If you just look at this summer in Europe from a climate and wildfire perspective, in isolation, it literally reads like a slightly overwritten disaster movie,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Yet this is no movie. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, conditions that have fueled the punishing heat, wildfires, and drought that are putting enormous pressure on the European economy and power supply. If the Hormuz conflict has already sent economic shock waves rippling through Europe, this summer’s extreme weather is set to make everything much worse.
The costs are adding up. The wildfires tearing across the five heaviest-hit countries have already cost more than $3 billion, according to an analysis by the *Financial Times*, while the heat wave that gripped Europe in June alone is estimated to have shaved more than $2 billion off of the continent’s grain crop.
The human toll has been staggering, with the continent reporting more than 10,000 excess deaths, most of whom were over the age of 65, during the searing heat wave.
This is a “wake-up call” for Europe, said Kate Guy, a senior fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “Everybody across the continent’s increasingly seeing this as the new way forward and not just an aberration.”
Europe is not alone. This summer has seen record-shattering figures that are emblematic of a rapidly warming world: The last 11 years were the hottest on record, while ocean surface temperatures have been at a record high and the famously cold Arctic is scorching at above 90 degrees. Data suggests that Bordeaux, France, has logged more days above 104 degrees Fahrenheit in 2026 alone than it notched in the past century.
Scientists have already confirmed that climate change—driven by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels—primed and supercharged the wildfires that have devastated Spain and France, fueling the hot and dry conditions that made much of Europe a tinderbox.
European leaders, too, have recognized the hazards that climate change has unleashed on the continent. After meeting in July, top officials from the United Kingdom and Spain released a statement deeming climate change a “national security emergency” to Europe that is “threatening our way of life.”
Read More
*
*French President Emmanuel Macron listens to explanations by civil security officers as he visits the Nimes-Garons firefighters air base in Garons, southern France, on June 2, 2023.*
France’s Wildfires Are Swallowing Its Politics
The country’s next presidential election is more ominous in the glow of its latest environmental disaster.
Analysis
|
Robert Zaretsky
*
*A woman shields herself from the sun with an umbrella during a heat wave in Rome on June 26.*
Doomsday Climate Scenarios Were Wrong. That Doesn’t Help Europe.
Recent scientific reassessments strengthen the case for rapid climate action rather than weaken it. !This article has an audio recording
Argument
|
Jason Bordoff,
Noah Kaufman
*
*Illustration of a globe sitting atop a marble pedestal with the words I heart Earth on the globe. On the pedestal the words Climate Politics are printed. The image is on a green background.*
How China’s Rise
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Analysis:
Europe’s Summer of Nightmares
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Analysis
Europe’s Summer of Nightmares
Punishing heat and wildfires have cost billions and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
By **Christina Lu**, a staff writer at *Foreign Policy*.
!Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic on the shore of Lake Lacanau as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from the Gironde wildfire in Lacanau, France.
*Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic on the shore of Lake Lacanau as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from the Gironde wildfire in Lacanau, France.*
Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic on the shore of Lake Lacanau as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from the Gironde wildfire in Lacanau, France, on July 24. Maximilien Lamy/AFP via Getty Images
My FP:
Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In
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August 10, 2026, 6:00 AM
It’s been far from an idyllic summer for Europe, where powerful wildfires have incinerated France and Spain, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and driving what has likely been both countries’ largest peacetimeevacuations ever.
If regions haven’t been torched, they may be parched. Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers.
It’s been far from an idyllic summer for Europe, where powerful wildfires have incinerated France and Spain, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and driving what has likely been both countries’ largest peacetimeevacuations ever.
If regions haven’t been torched, they may be parched. Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers.
For some countries, the lack of water has had such immense energy implications that authorities have resorted to detonating explosives at riverbeds in hopes that the blasts will help to redirect much-needed cooling water to a nearby nuclear reactor.
“If you just look at this summer in Europe from a climate and wildfire perspective, in isolation, it literally reads like a slightly overwritten disaster movie,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Yet this is no movie. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, conditions that have fueled the punishing heat, wildfires, and drought that are putting enormous pressure on the European economy and power supply. If the Hormuz conflict has already sent economic shock waves rippling through Europe, this summer’s extreme weather is set to make everything much worse.
The costs are adding up. The wildfires tearing across the five heaviest-hit countries have already cost more than $3 billion, according to an analysis by the *Financial Times*, while the heat wave that gripped Europe in June alone is estimated to have shaved more than $2 billion off of the continent’s grain crop.
The human toll has been staggering, with the continent reporting more than 10,000 excess deaths, most of whom were over the age of 65, during the searing heat wave.
This is a “wake-up call” for Europe, said Kate Guy, a senior fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “Everybody across the continent’s increasingly seeing this as the new way forward and not just an aberration.”
Europe is not alone. This summer has seen record-shattering figures that are emblematic of a rapidly warming world: The last 11 years were the hottest on record, while ocean surface temperatures have been at a record high and the famously cold Arctic is scorching at above 90 degrees. Data suggests that Bordeaux, France, has logged more days above 104 degrees Fahrenheit in 2026 alone than it notched in the past century.
Scientists have already confirmed that climate change—driven by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels—primed and supercharged the wildfires that have devastated Spain and France, fueling the hot and dry conditions that made much of Europe a tinderbox.
European leaders, too, have recognized the hazards that climate change has unleashed on the continent. After meeting in July, top officials from the United Kingdom and Spain released a statement deeming climate change a “national security emergency” to Europe that is “threatening our way of life.”
Read More
*
*French President Emmanuel Macron listens to explanations by civil security officers as he visits the Nimes-Garons firefighters air base in Garons, southern France, on June 2, 2023.*
France’s Wildfires Are Swallowing Its Politics
The country’s next presidential election is more ominous in the glow of its latest environmental disaster.
Analysis
|
Robert Zaretsky
*
*A woman shields herself from the sun with an umbrella during a heat wave in Rome on June 26.*
Doomsday Climate Scenarios Were Wrong. That Doesn’t Help Europe.
Recent scientific reassessments strengthen the case for rapid climate action rather than weaken it. !This article has an audio recording
Argument
|
Jason Bordoff,
Noah Kaufman
*
*Illustration of a globe sitting atop a marble pedestal with the words I heart Earth on the globe. On the pedestal the words Climate Politics are printed. The image is on a green background.*
How China’s Rise
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Source: Foreign Policy
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