Weather-related disasters ‘could affect most of Europe by 2100’

More than 100,000 Europeans could be killed each year by searing heatwaves as well as wildfires, storms and floods by the end of the century, scientists predict.

By 2100, weather-related disasters could affect two-thirds of Europe’s population per year, say the experts.

The forecast reflects what is likely to happen if there is no reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and nothing is done to improve global protection against extreme weather events.

Yearly deaths caused by extreme weather could soar 50 times from 3,000 between 1981 and 2010 to 152,000 between 2071 and 2100, according to the forecast published in journal the Lancet Planetary Health.

The study analysed the probable impact of the seven most dangerous types of weatherrelated event – heatwaves, cold snaps, wildfires, droughts, river and coastal floods, and wind storms in 28 European Union countries together with Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Rates of exposure to such disasters were projected to increase from one in 20 of the population at the start of the century to two in three people near its end.

Lead scientist Dr Giovanni Forzieri, from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Italy, said: “Climate change is one of the biggest global threats to human health of the 21st century, and its peril to society will be increasingly connected to weather-driven hazards.

“Unless global warming is curbed as a matter of urgency and appropriate measures are taken, about 350 million Europeans could be exposed to harmful climate extremes on an annual basis by the end of the century,” Dr Forzieri added.