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Record-Breaking Heat Waves Are Becoming Europe’s New Normal
Europe is literally melting under unprecedented heat waves that would make even seasoned summer veterans sweat profusely. The European Union’s Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization reported in April 2024 that Europe was Earth’s most rapidly warming continent, with temperatures rising at a rate twice as high as the global average rate, and that Europe’s 5-year average temperatures were 2.3°C higher relative to pre-industrial temperatures compared to 1.3°C for the rest of the world. The average surface air temperature over European land for summer (June–August) 2024 was the highest on record for the season at 1.54°C above the 1991-2020 average.
The numbers are staggering and they tell a story of a continent rapidly transforming. In June 2024, both Sparta and Serres registered a record mean max temperature of 37.6°C while temperatures soared as high as 44.5°C on the island of Crete. According to the National Observatory of Athens in July 2024 Greece experienced its longest lasting heat wave in recorded history with 16 days in total. During July 2024, temperatures in Italy reached peaks of 40°C, prompting the Italian government to issue excessive heat warnings for thirteen cities which included Rome, Trieste, and Palermo.
The Deadly Consequences of Extreme Heat
While Americans sweat through their own heat waves with relative safety, Europeans are literally dying from the heat. According to recent research by Elisa Gallo and her team at ISGlobal in Barcelona, Spain, the heat contributed to more than 47,000 deaths across the continent during the summer of 2023. A report released by Public Health France on February 8, 2024, confirmed that 5,167 people died due to the heat during the summer in France in 2023.
The human toll is becoming increasingly evident as temperatures climb. At least six tourists died in June 2024 while hiking in Greece during unusually high temperatures. Extreme heat in Greece forced authorities to close the Acropolis several times during midday throughout June and July to prevent tourist heat-related illnesses. These aren’t just statistics on a government report – they’re real people whose lives were cut short by heat that would be merely uncomfortable if they had access to proper cooling.
Heat Seasons Are Stretching Beyond Traditional Summer
As global temperatures continue to rise, European cities are experiencing extreme heat for far longer than the traditional summer months. Some cities in Europe now endure high temperatures for up to five months a year, a new study by Climate Resilience for All claims. On average, the team, led by climate scientist Dr Larry Kalkstein, say that heat seasons last for 214 days across the cities they looked at.
This isn’t the “summer season” your grandparents knew. Extremely hot days occurred at any time of the year in 20 of the 85 cities. “The ‘summer season’ many of us once knew is gone,” the study points to the urban heat island effect, where cities become hotter than surrounding rural areas due to dense infrastructure and limited green space, as a key factor worsening heat stress across Europe’s urban centres.
Europe’s Air Conditioning Usage Remains Stubbornly Low
Here’s where the story gets truly mind-boggling. The American-European disparity could hardly be greater: nearly 90 percent of U.S. households have air conditioning, whereas less than 10 percent of European homes do. Only one in every ten homes in the whole of Europe has air conditioning, meaning there are huge cultural differences at play as well as varying climates.
Think about that for a moment – in a continent where people are literally dying from heat, nine out of ten homes don’t have air conditioning. The IEA forecast that 130 million units would be installed in the EU by 2023 and estimated that the number of units could quadruple on the continent by 2050. The IEA report also found that Europe tends to have more air conditioning installed in commercial buildings than in private homes, whereas in the US, China and Japan it is the opposite.
Electricity Costs Are Crushing European Households
The math is brutal and it explains a lot about why Europeans are sweating it out. In 2023, the average retail price of electricity in the United States was about $0.13 per kilowatt-hour, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration data. In Europe, the price of electricity was roughly three times higher at $0.34 (0.2872 euros), according to Eurostat data.
A new study published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management explains that “air conditioning ownership increases households’ electricity consumption by 36% on average globally.” The study also found that “compared to the other drivers of electricity consumption, air conditioning has the leading marginal effect, also accounting for a significant share of household budgets.” Alongside the cost of installation, the increase in energy bills once the air conditioning is up and running is an obstacle. A study done in 16 countries by four researchers from the Universities of Berkeley in the US and Mannheim in Germany shows that, overall, the number of households that install air conditioning is higher in wealthier countries and is increasing more sharply among wealthier households.
Europeans Are Simply Poorer Than Americans
The harsh economic reality can’t be ignored when examining Europe’s air conditioning problem. American gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was $85,810 in 2024, while the European Union’s GDP per capita was 27 percent lower ($62,434), per World Bank data. Air conditioning markedly increases household electricity consumption, electricity is more expensive throughout Europe, and Europeans are poorer.
It’s a perfect storm of economic factors that make air conditioning a luxury rather than a necessity for most European households. When you’re already struggling with high energy costs and lower disposable income, adding a system that can increase your electricity bill by more than a third becomes a non-starter for millions of families.
Environmental Regulations Are Creating Deadly Barriers
Europe’s environmental crusade is literally killing people, and that’s not hyperbole. Under its Green Deal, the European Commission imposes strict air pollution regulations for heating and cooling and mandates that new buildings be non-greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting. The commission’s Fit for 55 package legally requires the European Union to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030.
To achieve these environmental goals, the commission encourages its citizens to use comfort fans, which “can make a good job at refreshing you while consuming much less energy than air conditioning.” Europe’s stringent economic and environmental regulations are making air conditioners more expensive and less used, which is needlessly jeopardizing human lives. The irony is thick – in trying to save the planet, Europe is creating policies that are literally baking its citizens to death.
Building Codes and Bureaucracy Make Installation Nightmarish
Even if you can afford air conditioning in Europe, getting it installed is like navigating a bureaucratic maze designed by people who’ve never experienced a heat wave. Although the U.K. is no longer part of the European Union and is not subject to its environmental targets and associated regulations, it has its own red tape that makes installing air conditioning harder than it needs to be. Richard Salmon, director of the U.K.-based Air Conditioning Company, told CNN that “authorities will often reject applications to install AC ‘on the basis of the visual appearance of the outdoor condenser unit.'”
Apparently, aesthetics are more important than human well-being in the United Kingdom. Although very well controllable, certain member states have ruling in their building codes that certain buildings may not contain any flammable refrigerant at all. A good example how different directives, local building codes and industry innovations are not supporting each other but in fact could work contra-productive.
Cultural Attitudes Are Slowly Changing Under Pressure
Europeans have traditionally viewed air conditioning as an American extravagance, but that mindset is cracking under the pressure of relentless heat. Mother Jones reports that two-thirds of French people surveyed in a 2021 OpinionWay poll said they did not plan on purchasing an air conditioner due to energy costs and environmental impacts. Was cooling seen as “luxury” in the past, in todays, new well insulated buildings cooling is as important as heating to secure the well-being of people.
The cultural shift is happening, but it’s been a slow burn. Air conditioning sales have progressed faster in the domestic market than in commercial buildings in the EU. Getting AC installed often remains a small luxury. What was once considered unnecessary American excess is increasingly being seen as a matter of survival.
The Air Conditioning Market Is Finally Growing
Despite all the barriers, the European air conditioning market is experiencing unprecedented growth as reality collides with ideology. Europe Air Conditioner Market will be US$ 43.34 Billion by 2033 compared to US$ 24.93 Million in 2024, with a CAGR of 6.35% from 2025-2033. Europe Air Conditioner (AC) Market was valued at USD 24.93 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 43.34 billion by the year 2033, registering a CAGR of 6.35% during the forecast period from 2025 to 2033.
The growth of the market is fueled by rising temperatures, urbanization, and the heightened need for energy-efficient cooling. Although historically a low-adoption market because of more temperate climates, increasing heatwaves have boosted demand for air conditioners in the UK. Portable and energy-saving ACs are increasingly found in homes and offices. The market is finally responding to the reality that Europeans can’t simply sweat through climate change.
Energy Efficiency Is Becoming the New Battleground
European manufacturers and consumers are trying to thread the needle between staying cool and meeting environmental goals. Energy-efficient, eco-friendly air conditioners specifically are in great demand as governments try to promote carbon footprint minimization through regulatory efforts. Energy efficiency regulations, such as the EU Ecodesign Directive, have encouraged the adoption of inverter-based models, which reduce power consumption by up to 40%.
The growth of the Europe air conditioners market is driven by increasing temperatures and humidity levels, consumers’ growing preference for convenience and comfort, and the rising demand for energy-efficient air conditioning systems. Air conditioners with inverter technology are more energy-efficient than traditional air conditioning systems with fixed-speed compressors, as they can adjust their cooling capacities as and when required.
The Future Will Force Europe’s Hand
Climate change isn’t slowing down, and neither will the demand for cooling in Europe. By 2050, more than 5 billion people — probably more than half the planet’s population — will be exposed to at least a month of health-threatening extreme heat when outdoors in the sun, according to a Post analysis of climate data, up from 4 billion in 2030 and 2 billion at the turn of the century.
Unusually hot summers have been the norm in Europe across recent years: 2024 was the hottest on record, besting 2023, which surpassed the high mark from 2022 and 2021. The significant early season temperatures are an ominous sign of what’s still to come for the bulk of the hot season — the rise in temperatures and return of high readings are symptoms of human-driven climate change. Europe will eventually have to choose between its environmental ideology and the survival of its citizens.
Conclusion
Europe finds itself trapped in a deadly paradox of its own making. While the continent bakes under record-breaking heat waves that are killing thousands of people annually, the vast majority of Europeans remain without air conditioning due to crushing electricity costs, restrictive regulations, and cultural resistance. The economic reality is stark: Europeans are poorer than Americans, pay three times more for electricity, and face bureaucratic nightmares when trying to install cooling systems. Meanwhile, environmental regulations designed to combat climate change are ironically making it harder for people to survive the very heat that climate change is creating.
The market is finally responding with explosive growth projections, but it may be too little, too late for the thousands who continue to die each summer. As heat seasons stretch to five months and temperatures continue climbing, Europe will eventually be forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: you can’t regulate your way out of a heat wave, and ideological purity is a luxury that fewer Europeans can afford with each passing scorching summer. Did you expect that environmental policies meant to save the planet would end up putting so many lives at risk?
