How Europe is preparing for extreme heat

Gripped by drought, raging wildfires and a summer of weather extremes, countries across Europe are scrambling to address the widely underestimated climate challenge of extreme heat.

Supercharged by the climate crisis, a series of record-breaking heat waves in recent months has wreaked havoc across large swaths of the world’s fastest-warming continent. Severe infrastructure stress brought on by the searing heat has forced companies and policymakers to respond.

Eurostar, for example, recently announced that it is preparing to for unprecedented heat across Europe with a new fleet of trains designed to withstand temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit).

“A decision has been taken to equip our new fleet of up to 50 Celestia trains with air conditioning capable of operating in temperatures up to 55 degrees,” a Eurostar spokesperson told CNBC by email. “These trains will enter service in 2031 and run into the 2060s so it’s essential to be prepared for the future.”

The high-speed train operator, which runs some of the longest and largest passenger train sets in Europe, had originally intended to invest in a new fleet of trains that could operate in conditions of up to 45 degrees Celsius, but recent heat waves prompted a change of plan.

In Norway, extreme heat has pushed asphalt temperatures at Oslo Airport toward 52 degrees Celsius, prompting fire crews to douse the tarmac with thousands of liters of water to prevent damage to aircraft stands and taxiways.

Workers at Oslo Airport, which is operated by Avinor, said each cooling round used around 13,000 liters of water, with these operations repeating every hour during the hottest periods.

In Sweden, meanwhile, Stockholm’s public transport operator SL has painted railway tracks white to reduce the risk of heat-related disruptions, such as track displacement and track buckling, sometimes referred to as “sun kinks.”

This method has also been used on particularly vulnerable railway sections in southern Europe, including Spain and Italy.

Jan Rosenow, professor of energy and climate policy at the U.K.’s University of Oxford, said the ravaged village of Le Porge at the center of France’s wildlife crisis should serve as a stark reminder of the root cause of the climate crisis.

Scientists have repeatedly warned that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas is the chief driver of the climate crisis.