He climate change It has ceased to be a distant threat and has become a health emergency that Europe is experiencing in real time. This is what the Lancet Countdown European Report 2026which documents how heat waves, the spread of vector-borne diseases and droughts hit the most vulnerable groups with increasing intensity, while calling for accelerating both the adaptation of health systems and the abandonment of fossil fuels.
A heat that kills
The report places extreme heat as one of the main health risks of climate change in Europe. High temperatures are no longer a one-time phenomenon, but a recurring threat that directly affects mortality, healthcare burden and the daily lives of millions of people. The figure that summarizes the magnitude of the problem is overwhelming, more than 60,000 people died in Europe in 2024 due to causes attributable to heat.
Furthermore, the impact is not distributed equally. Older people, young children, pregnant women, the chronically ill and those who live in precarious economic or residential conditions bear the brunt. The risk does not depend only on the thermometer, the quality of housing, access to green areas, the possibility of cooling, the type of work or the response capacity of the health system make the difference between surviving a heat wave or not. “The climate crisis,” the authors note, “is aggravating inequalities that already existed within cities and between regions.
Global warming also opens the door to diseases that have hitherto been rare on the continent. The report warns of outbreaks of West Nile virus, the spread of ticks and an increase in the risk of dengue in several European areas. The warning about dengue leaves no doubt, the risk of outbreaks has multiplied by four in the last decade compared to the period 1980-2010. Added to this are less visible, but equally worrying, phenomena, such as the earlier and worsening of the allergy season, the pressure on water resources and the deterioration of food quality.
A crisis with unequal geography
Not the entire continent suffers equally. Southern, Eastern and Western Europe have the greatest exposure to threats such as mortality due to heat, drought, West Nile outbreaks or the proliferation of ticks. This imbalance also turns climate change into a question of territorial justice; regions with weaker infrastructure, greater population aging or less capacity to adapt will face, according to the report, a much more severe health burden in the coming years.
The authors recognize advances in epidemiological surveillance, planning and emergency response, but warn that they are far behind the speed at which risks are increasing. The conclusion is clear, Europe is not adapting quickly enough to a climate reality that is already deteriorating the health of its population. The Wellcome organization, cited in the document, sums it up bluntly, “the continent is not prepared for the health challenges of a rapidly changing climate”.
Health as a climate argument
Beyond the diagnosis, the report defends a central idea: combating climate change is, above all, protecting public health. Reducing dependence on fossil fuels, accelerating the energy transition, transforming transportation, rethinking urban design and improving the efficiency of buildings and hospitals would not only reduce emissions, but would generate immediate health benefits.
The health system itself is portrayed as part of the problem and, at the same time, part of the solution. Although its emissions fell slightly in 2022, experts warn that this transformation must be accelerated if the environmental—and health—impact of the current model is to be curbed.
In short, the underlying message of the 2026 report is that the margin for action is running out. Climate change is no longer a threat projected into the future, but a factor that today worsens health, increases mortality and puts European health systems on the ropes. “Delaying the response, the authors conclude, is equivalent to assuming more disease, more inequality and more deaths that could have been avoided.”