Summer in Europe is officially uncool

For a little balance, two weeks ago we had times during the day when you could have been more comfortable in a long sleeve shirt. But I think Budapest runs a bit cooler than Vienna for some reason.

Still, its hot. At 10am it's 88F but the humidity is only 33% so for now, not bad. During the hottestt part of the day plan museums and the river front where the evaporative action and breeze drops temperatures or go to Buda where the altitude helps cool things a bit.

I dont find our trams and buses uncomfortable in the heat. Most have AC, or you can always use the metro and that is always comfortable.

Your river cruise in the region may be a no go as the Danube is approaching record lows and unexploded WWII ordnance is showing above the warerline. A big change from the flooding about this time 2 years ago.

I have a lot of running around town to do today so I will pay a little additional attention.

Yes, there was maybe ONE day here in the past month that was comfortable.

I’m actually on a very cool uncrowded bus outside of the swarm as I type. It is hit or miss with AC on trams and buses. The UBahn (subway) is typically comfortable but after a month of 90+, nowhere is immune.

Tomorrow the high is 88 and I’m looking forward to it.

But I think that issue in this part of Europe is that the infrastructure was built to keep in the heat, which exacerbates.

Hi Emily

I live in Texas and can relate to your post.

We are hovering around 100F with very high humidity. Most unpleasant. However this is normal summer weather for Texas and every place is air conditioned.

Unless I must, I do not go outside until 7 pm.

I can not imagine being a tourist anywhere and walking around in very hot weather like we are both experiencing.

And I know that Europe does not have air conditioning like we do in Texas.

For many reasons, I do not travel in the summer although I guess this would be a good time to go to places like Australia and New Zealand.

Emily, it is opressively hot today. I was out in it from 9am until just now. I am trying to remain optimistic. When it’s been hot here, its been very hot. But we have had some almost freakishly cold periods as well. Also, if you look at the hottest day of the year in most locations you will find that to be between 30 July and 2 August. So it’s all downhill from here.

We all know it gets hotter than the internet forecasts say it is. But using that, it’s about the luck of the draw for the date you are there, and the places you choose to go on holiday. Here is the range of highs predicted over the next week: Valbona 72 to 75F / Zabljak 73 to 80F / Salzburg 76 to 92F / Poprad 68 to 90F / Brasov 71 to 84F Some will look at those temps and first see the number on the right. I first see the number on the left. I am an optimist.

Not to travel in the summer? Well, no matter what you call “summer” that’s a lot of life I still want to spend traveling. Meteorological Summer: Start date: June 1 - End date: August 31. Astronomical Summer: Start date: June 21, 2026 (the summer solstice) - End date: September 22, 2026 (the autumn equinox)

I choose to go on holiday in the summer if it works for me. For instance, if I want to go to the coast. I choose to take a holiday in the summer if there is an event or a festival or a cultural activity that interests me. St Stephen’s day is in August, those that never travel in the summer will never participate in one of the most amazing festivals in Central Europe. In June alone, and just Western Europe, the festivals include: Festa della Maiolica, Spello Infiorata, Mille Miglia, Marchas Populares, Feast of San Ranieri, Nuits de Fourvière

My summer holidays so far this year:

• Montenegro Adriatic Coast (June was perfect)
• Pennsylvania Amish Country (July was almost perfect)
• Valencia, Spain (it was too hot, but it was a good opportunity to see my grandchildren and that’s all that mattered)

Upcoming summer trips as summer isn’t over yet:

• Carpathian Mountains (in a few days, should be a tad bit cooler than Budapest and part of the activity involves a cold mountain river)
• Montenegro (early September could be a bit warm or could be idea. If its warm I spend more time in the mountains fishing… if its idea, more time on the coast).
  

Its not like i enjoy the heat or I am able to suck it up and do what others cant. I just plan around the weather, create a few Plan B's and find a way to squeeze a lot of enjoyment out of where ever I am.

I have a suggestion on where to stay in Vienna in the summer. Those 100+ year old apartment blocks that Emily spoke of. Well, the thermal mass of the walls really does work in both directions; summer and winter. My job used to include calculating the effect. Anyway if you are the type that likes AirBnb then you find an old building like Emily's and you get a courtyard apartment in a building with a somewhat small courtyard on the Ground or First floor. Standing outside your door you will feel it to be substantially cooler than the temperature at the street. Open two windows and insert the fan.

I actually live in exactly the apartment you describe above - ground floor (cellar underneath) courtyard facing thick walls, no direct sun. It is still roasting in my apartment - thus my frequent trips to the freezer section at the Lidl.

Coastal area are great, but Americans don’t come to Europe to spend a week at the beach.

I just think that if I had time off in the summer, then I would go far north in Europe or to the southern hemisphere.

You don’t have to go far north for nice summer weather. In the Netherlands it’s nice, somewhat sunny and very comfortable at around 23 degrees Celsius right now.
Despite the relatively cool temperatures there will be a whole lot of scantily clad people in Amsterdam today, but that’s not due to scorching temperatures….

I'm sorry, Emily. Heat is exhausting.
My husband and I will be in Vienna in early September. I'm hoping for good weather especially after being in London and Paris for their late May heat wave this year.

I have two hard rules for travel: No heat and no kids. For that reason I usually plan vacation in late April and mid to late September. Spring can bring more rain but that's a trade off I'm willing to make.

There's always Galicia. Headed there now. We are going to Finisterre on the coast and we are looking at low 70's with a bit of rain. Santiago and La Coruna will be upper 70's also with a bit of rain.

Northern Navarra hasn't been too bad. Pamplona started the week in the mid 90s, but finished the week at 82 and a light morning rain.

I actually live in exactly the apartment you describe above - ground
floor (cellar underneath) courtyard facing thick walls, no direct sun.
It is still roasting in my apartment - thus my frequent trips to the
freezer section at the Lidl.

I said it was better. Not good. I am facing the street and I just took my trash to the courtyard .... like 5F cooler. Always is. But 5F on a 105F day .... well ....

When I renovated about 16 years ago I paid a bloody fortune to have enough electric brought to the house to power things like washer and dryer, electric kitchen appliances and Air Conditioning locals thought I crazy. Now maybe 1 in 4 in the house have added AC ... thanks to my electrical modifications they can.

Good foresight Mr. E!

Emily, I hope it cools off soon for you and the rest of Europe. We live in the California desert and are having many days over 100 degrees. But, I knew that when we moved here a year ago. Originally I thought we would spend our summers traveling to get out of the heat here. I quickly realized that we have awesome air conditioning and many other places around the world do not. So we are spending more time here in the summer than we originally planned. It’s ok though, Ventura, Santa Barbara are just a 4 hour drive away and summer temps are perfect there.

BTW Emily, I sent you a PM when we were in Vienna. I think maybe you didn’t see it.

from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

“Two months ago, I warned that El Nino was arriving on our doorstep. Now it is inside the house — and turning up the heat,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Friday. “We have already endured a summer of extremes — record-shattering heat domes; apocalyptic wildfires raging in Spain, France and far beyond; thousands of lives lost in the scorching conditions.”
“But according to the latest science, this is only a warm-up act,” Guterres said, saying as the El Nino strengthens it will be “adding fuel to a planet already on fire.”
“We are in uncharted territory,” he said. “The climate crisis is in overdrive.”
Most computer forecast models are showing that this El Nino will likely break the all-time record for intensity when it peaks, sometime late fall or so, but that’s not guaranteed, scientists said.

https://apnews.com/article/el-nino-climate-change-warming-drought-un-554b976f05fa0a5583ab73c9d57467ff

Reading this post makes me grateful to be where I am

https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/wa/edmonds

https://www.randalljhodges.com/images/xl/B169-Sunset-Wildflwers-and-Edmonds-Ferry-WA.jpg

Yes. As Going234 says, it only goes up from here. :(

The only question is how fast. And how to adapt, not to continue pretending it isn't happening.

Emily i suspect I came across a little callous. Sorry. You know I have nothing but respect for you. I am wired a bit odd. If I cant fix it I accept it and look for ways to cope, and that often comes across wrong.

Yup, its warming up. I remember winters watching the Danube freeze over. 175 years ago the economy relied on it every year. I think the last time i saw it was about 2015. Hopefully the experts come up with a workable solution, or better sunscreen.

My immediate coping mechanism involves a spa village and doing the whole boil in the big black pot and dive in the cold river scenario. Cheaper than running my AC.

It’s going to be unpopular but one thing we can all do is travel less.
The situation isn't going to solve itself and changes in behaviour is necessary whether we like it or not.

"The situation isn't going to solve itself and changes in behaviour is necessary whether we like it or not."

That won't be enough but it's a step on the way. I foresee big problems with Europe coping with the old buildings it has inherited. Tearing them down for newer to cope with the heat isn't going to be popular. I remember reading how a lot of Paris people hated the look of the Eiffel Tower. Didn't fit the rest of the Architecture. Maybe a lot still do. I doubt if the new buildings will match the old as well. Retrofitting some can work but it will be expensive so that's going to be a battle. Right now you still have people (a lot?) insisting Air Conditioning isn't necessary. It's borderline now and when it's absolutely necessary it will be too late. I hear Conservatives have taken up the argument that more people still die by Cold than Heat. And this Country still has many who claim Global Warming is a myth.

Ireland is still of mixed feelings about it.

https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2026/07/30/were-feeling-the-heat-across-europe-but-failing-to-heed-the-cause/

Emma, its a mess isn't it. Can you imagine banning the use of energy for pleasure activities?

Most solutions you hear thrown around don't take into account the life cycle carbon foot print (carbon foot print including mining the materials, constructing or fabricating, use and ultimate disposal) and they rarely take into account cultural norms. Like if all American families would just learn to live in 500sf high density housing. This is why the ideas go no where.

Maybe the only technically viable solution is to reduce population by half, or maybe nuclear. I really dont know. I only know about construction and fabrication because it was my career. I did a few certified facilities. A great lesson in reality.

But Emma, we are all concerned, still, its healthy to let go and look for the positive. If I didn't I would be miserable and hateful. So, as August and September progress we will have many beautiful days. Enjoy.

“Can you imagine banning the use of energy for pleasure activities”

That’s the thing, it’s not necessarily about banning things. Treating it as a knee jerk ‘all or nothing approach’ is simply unhelpful. Adapting behaviour is perfectly possible and small changes can add up. Some might feel like inconveniences but to be honest so what? We have got the planet in a total mess and we have to deal with it.
A Rick Steve based example,I think the fact his tours only half fill coaches so that participants can have space is wasteful and wrong. If they used smaller coaches and actually filled them it might be slightly less comfortable for tour members but would save fuel and take up less space in the places being visited.

“they rarely take into account cultural norms……… This is why the ideas go no where”

But think of how many ‘cultural norms’ have changed in the last 50, even 25 years. Change is perfectly possible.

I am by no means an eco-warrior but I do think we have gone way past the ‘let’s be positive’ approach when we ar literally watching the continent burn.

Emily, hop on a plane, come to Seattle. We will give you a nice break…….

Emma you are brilliant. We are close enough of mind to be productive but far enough to ensure growth of thought. I propose to continue this with tea (or gin) at the tomb of Sir George Nowers. 25 October would be a most suitable date as the circumstance faced by King Henry V and is words in the face of that circumstance are as appropriate in this battle as they were for Agincourt.

Emily

Besides traveling less, it may be necessary to stop driving as much. And this will be very unpopular in Texas,

Besides being very uncomfortable, high heat is also very deadly. There are those persons who do not realize how dangerous hot weather is.

Emma,

https://www.ricksteves.com/about-us/climate-smart/note-from-rick

See link above.

RS does a self-imposed carbon tax. While this isn’t enough since this is a global problem of unprecedented scale that requires a world-wide governmental set for strategies (what would almost certainly include imposing higher and more meaningful taxes on carbon use and on carbon polluters,) this is a great step in the right direction.

I agree with and appreciate your comment.

Happy travels

hop on a plane, come to Seattle. We will give you a nice break…….

It's only going to be in the high 90's this coming week. And we've had days @ 100f this year. But culturally we prefer to use AC and have people survive.

And if Lidl is closed on Sunday, remember Billa is open.

You mean the handful of Billas open on a Sunday that are like a heaving mosh pit? I’ll pass. I spent my morning picking 1.5 kilo of blackberries and taking a dip in the Alte Donau.

There isn't sufficient self-discipline in the US Congress to collect sufficient tax from the populace to pay for the expenditures they legislate into effect. Anyone who believes they will, at any time, exercise the discipline to obligate Americans to reduce our carbon footprint is being quixotic. And the USA is not very different from any other government in these regards.

Increasing greenhouse gas emissions on a continuing basis is a given, and therefore so are continuing rising temperatures and increasing climate variability. So mankind better figure out how to deal with much hotter temperatures and higher sea levels. They're unquestionably both going to happen.

I dunno there JPHBucks.

I think that Eric Schmidt, former CEO of google, is arguing the AGI from Super Intelligent AI will consume 99% of all energy and it will figure out how to solve climate change! So, yeah, Sillcon Valley is inventing a Messiah to figure out how to solve climate change by consuming all energy of all types.

But others say what if we just, you know, do what we already kinda know what to do which is convert to renewable energy and not invent a Messiah that will turn us into a battery that maybe that might be a better plan. Also, maybe try to be more energy efficient too.

(I think those Silicon Valley types need to rewatch the Matrix and this time watch while they are not high on drugs— what’s the quote “"The human body generates more bioelectricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines had found all the energy they would ever need." )

Happy travels

We do need a new thread. "What have I personally done to reduced my carbon footprint to the Global Annual Mean of 4.5metric tons while maintaining my travel needs" (4.5 metric tons is slightly less than one Business Class round trip ticket from LAX to CGD).

You could move to Europe to eliminate the transatlantic carbon dump. You could trade in the typical 2.000 sf+ American home for the typical 700sf+ European home. You could rip the AC off the wall. Become a car-less urban dweller.

Okay, yes, thats all insane. More realistic to replace that 1 hour flight, once you cross the atlantic, with the 6 hour train. I was always curious whey people in LA didnt use Amtrak to JFK to save half the carbon footprint to europe. Same as they do in Europe?

was always curious whey people in LA didn't use Amtrak to JFK to save half the carbon footprint to Europe. Same as they do in Europe?

I suspect the fact it is a 67hr+ trip may have something to do with it.

In Europe, a similar length train journey is Warsaw to Madrid.
I wonder how many folks do that?

And shouldnt you do the warsaw to madrid by train if you care? Better, if we chose to live in LA, shouldnt we chose to not go to Europe?

"On-going but sharper acceleration of global warming, 1.5°C before 2030"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260801093239.htm

It has been SOOOO hot in the SW of France. The hottest I can remember and, in fact, the hottest even the locals can remember. It's not that we don't have hot spells in the summer. We do. But not week after week after week. It's been...relentless. I have been known to take a few extra trips to LeClerc or Picard just to cool down. :-) I cannot believe I'm going to say this but...I can't wait for this summer to be over. I hope this isn't a preview of our summers to come.

Stay cool everyone!

"I hope this isn't a preview of our summers to come."

Why wouldn't it be? Other than (see my comment above) getting worse?

edit: One thing should be better, the fires. The heat will still be as bad, or worse, but the fuel for the fires is being burnt. I heard that the forest that burned in France was planted around Napoleon's time on a low lying marshy area. To make it more productive. The farmers have sucked a lot of the ground water out so I don't know what kind of area it'll end up as. Though I believe Macon promised to replant it.

The climatologists are saying that Europe is warming faster that the rest of the world due to the ocean currents and that future generations will look back on our 30-39-degree temperatures and call this the good old days. What's happening in Europe is expected for the rest of the world.

Since it's always hot in summer where I live, we do have air conditioning and fans in the rooms and suitable clothing, but I am finding it uncomfortable to go out walking around for pleasure, or visiting towns. And our air quality is bad due to the fires in the Gironde and Var.

Other fires: Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal.

My intent here was not to start a conversation about climate change, but to encourage people to stop coming in the summer.

But I don't hate it.

And the AC may not help me much longer. They shut down the nuclear owerplant because of low water levels. Plan B used to be Russian gas, but the Ukrainians took a big chunk of that off line. We may end up with a good old fashion California Brown Out.

David, the article you linked to about the Rick Steves organisation’s response to climate change is an interesting read. They are obviously trying (more than most) and should be commended for that, although I’m not sure all the statements in it would stand up to particularly rigorous challenge.

On a more positive note positive change is possible. We are all old enough to remember the threat from the holes in the ozone layer. Through positive action that problem is a good way along to being solved. Something that might not have seemed possible 30 years ago.

.

Emily, let’s be honest. Is being in Vienna ever uncool? Vienna is cool incarnate! (Well, yes, temperature wise— these heat domes are getting wild.)

Emma, let’s solve this thing by doing what we can. Every little bit helps. Rolling blackouts in Texas, brownouts in California, turning out the lights on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Happy travels!

"I hope this isn't a preview of our summers to come."

This summer is going to be remembered as one of the cool ones....

Emma, you addressed it well again. The thing about Sir Nowers wasnt scarcasim. I have to go see him in the next year or so and I thought a good excuse .... I get a bit nervous about the whole global warming thing because there is no world wide comprehensive plan being developed. Just a lot of people running around on jets blaming other folks who are running around on jets. But I am an optimist so ... Oh, Sir Nowers was my uncle (well x maybe 20) and my family has helped pay for the upkeep for quite a few decades so. Inspection time.

Its too hot these days in Vienna. Well, how hot is too hot? The historic mean for Vienna in July is about 72F. So, yup, temperatures are up about 2F.

The July 2026 mean temperature in Vienna was about 74F
The July 2025 mean temperature in Vienna was about 71F
The July 2024 mean temperature in Vienna was about 76F
The July 2023 mean temperature in Vienna was about 74F
The July 2022 mean temperature in Vienna was about 73F

The average high temperature in Vienna for July 2026 was 86 F (or 30 C) according to Accuweather.com. Thankfully, it does tend to cool off at night making the mean temperature sound more palatable.

No, the mean is up in a manner more or less consistent with the predictions and its only going to get worse. I don't doubt the heat.

If i were to push back it would be on absolutes like Dont come in the summer and generalizations of Europe. It's a tourism forum. Should be how to best do it and what to expect and where to go. Plenty of cool places left in Europe. And you are 100% correct in asking if the hot hot hotter and the cool cooler to create a more miserable impact with out moving tge mean much? Dont know.

Not a good place to talk global warming solutions. Anyone here know what their personal foot print was last year and how it compared to the global median? I made my employees calculate it. Then they could see what tgey really had to do to be part of the change. Few are willing to make the personal sacrifice.

Sorry, soap box came out.