There are many maps available on the internet showing the temperatures across Europe in 2025. I chose this one because it shows temperatures in late June and inland as well as coastal. June is still the shoulder season.
The EU Copernicus programme reported in October that 2025 was only the fourth warmest European summer, although there was “very strong to extreme heat stress in large parts of the continent” and “much warmer than average sea surface temperatures for all European seas.” The caused “severe-to-extreme drought” in southeastern Europe and wildfires. The Guardian published a remarkable series of satellite images back in August 2025, “Europe scorched by wildfires – pictures from space.”
Extreme heat is hitting Europe with Seville reaching 41C while France & Germany are expected to experience similar highs. Italy is under drought orders. Portugal is on fire with hydro plants limited. These are no longer temperature anomalies. This is the new normal. pic.twitter.com/hKKMpy9vT2
— Peter Dynes (@PGDynes) July 12, 2022
No doubt some of those glancing at this will dismiss the issues as temporary, confident that this aberrant weather will return to the norm and business as usual will prevail. The Lancet, a medical journal, clearly refutes this and states the danger:
“Driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, climate change is increasingly claiming lives and harming people’s health worldwide. Mean annual temperatures exceeded 1·5°C above those of pre-industrial times for the first time in 2024. Despite ever more urgent calls to tackle climate change, greenhouse gas emissions rose to record levels that same year. Climate change is increasingly destabilising the planetary systems and environmental conditions on which human life depends.”
Given the effects of extreme heat on the retired and elderly and the challenges of managing children and avoiding sunburn and heatstroke, people will move away from the peak summer sun and deeper into the shoulder season. The European Union’s Climate ASAPT recognises that there will be “increased pressure on the tourism infrastructure, reduced availability of certain tourist attractions, or higher risks for guests for certain tourism activities such as skiing, hiking, sailing.” Other regions will gain as tourists “select cooler areas in summer or seasons may be extended due to an increase in favourable weather condition.”
The EU’s Joint Research Centre concluded back in 2023 that although the overall impact on tourism “demand is expected to be positive”, tourism destinations in central and northern Europe are expected to gain, while destinations in the south will lose. They conclude that “as temperatures rise and weather patterns become more unpredictable, action to achieve tourism sustainability is needed.” Arrivals into southern coast regions are expected to rise in April and decline in July.
In August 2023, Nature Climate Change reported that “Without snowmaking, 53% and 98% of the 2,234 ski resorts studied in 28 European countries are projected to be at very high risk for snow supply under global warming of 2 °C and 4 °C, respectively.” In December, The Guardian reported that more than 186 ski resorts have closed, leaving a landscape of “ghost stations.”
It is time to start adapting to the changes in the seasonal flows of tourists in Europe and, obviously, globally. The ICRT.global has partnered with Routes and Low Season Traveller and has been appointed the official Responsible Impact Partner for the Tourism Seasonality Summit.
“This is a hugely important topic which needs more focus across the industry … Destinations which talk about an “off-season” are immediately telling the industry, community and visitors that it’s not the time to visit. When Kerala stopped using the term off-season and began promoting the benefits of the monsoon season, it saw a more stable flow of visitors throughout the year. But, as climate change bites, we are seeing variable weather impact both peak and low season travel. Destinations which relied on snow in winter, or reasonable temperatures for the beach in summer, now need to think much more carefully about their future seasonality.”
The Tourism Seasonality Summit will run from 17–18 May 2026 in Rimini, Italy. Seasonality Summit – Expanding Seasonality Together.
