The State of the Climate in Europe report, produced jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, provides information on rising temperatures, land and marine heatwaves, extreme weather, changing precipitation patterns and retreating ice and snow.

European people’s health is impacted by climate change in a myriad of ways, including death and illness from increasingly frequent extreme weather events (heatwaves), increases in zoonoses and food-, water- and vector-borne diseases, and mental health issues.

The deadliest extreme climate events in Europe are heatwaves, particularly in western and in southern Europe. The combination of climate change, urbanization and population ageing in the region creates, and will further exacerbate, vulnerability to heat.

Climate change-induced alterations in the production and distribution of pollens and spores may lead to increases in allergic disorders. Over 24% of adults living in the European region suffer from various allergies, including severe asthma, while the proportion among children in the region is 30–40% and rising. Climate change also affects the distribution of vector-borne diseases. Examples include ticks (Ixodes ricinus), which can spread Lyme illness and tick-borne encephalitis.

According to WHO’s Regional Office for Europe, about half-million premature deaths in the WHO European Region were caused by anthropogenic fine particle ambient air pollution in 2019, of which an important part were directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels. It is estimated that about 138 000 premature deaths could be avoided per year through reduced carbon emissions, potentially resulting in savings of US$ 244–564 billion.

Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than adults, both physically and psychologically. According to the UNICEF Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), nearly 125 million children in Europe live in countries with ‘medium to high’ risk countries (the third of five levels classification used globally).