As Europe faces one of its most severe heatwaves on record, the real danger may not end when temperatures begin to fall. Extreme heat can leave behind a more unstable continent: dry landscapes, overheated cities, stressed infrastructure and an atmosphere ready for violent storms.
Europe is learning a hard lesson this summer: the end of a heatwave does not always mean the end of danger. Sometimes it means the beginning of the next phase.
Across Western, Central and Southern Europe, extreme heat has already turned from a weather story into a social, medical, economic and political stress test. Roads have buckled, rail tracks have overheated, hospitals have come under pressure, schools and public events have been disrupted, and millions of people have lived through days and nights when the body could not properly recover. This is not simply “hot weather”. It is a test of whether European cities, homes, transport systems, hospitals and governments are prepared for a climate that is changing faster than many institutions expected in our environment.
The most important question now is not only when the heat will ease. The more serious question is what comes next.
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