EU ENERGY SECTOR: Record High Temperatures Likely in Europe in Summer 2024

Europe is likely to see record high temperatures this summer although with higher rainfall in the north, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service on April 22 via Montel, leading to higher energy consumption.

• “But equally we’re also likely to see drier conditions in the Mediterranean in summers in the future due to climate change,” said deputy director Samantha Burgess.
• “With all probability” summer will see record temperatures after the hottest year on record in 2023 and 10 consecutive months of record heat globally through to March, said Francesca Guglielmo.
• Europe was “the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate”, Copernicus added.
• “Given the recent acceleration in global warming, historically warm North Atlantic forecasts and very bullish climate model forecasts, we expect summer of 2024 to challenge summer 2022 as hottest summer on record across the mainland,” said Todd Crawford at Atmospheric G2 (AG2).
• “Further, we expect drier-than-normal and sunnier-than-normal across most of the mainland, especially across the south and especially during the back half of summer,” he added.
• Higher than usual Temperatures and solar generation are likely in July in all European regions apart from Scandinavia and the UK.