Normality tends to become now heat waves Extreme heat in Europe affects habits tourists Those who prefer to travel to northern countries are seen.
Like many Parisians, Mathilde Martin escaped to the south of France during the height of summer. But a heat wave three years ago made him rethink his trips to the area where he grew up and where his parents live.
“The rise in temperature has changed the game,” said the 51-year-old teacher watchman, explained that he was in Perpignan, France with his family a few summers ago: “We suffered from the heat. That week was not pleasant. Sometimes it was difficult to breathe. My parents, who live in Nice, have repeatedly told me that they are especially worried that it hasn’t rained in months,” he says, adding that he has since opted to take the train to a cooler location this year, at the height of summer. he will be trekking the south coast of England and will head south in spring or autumn instead.
“It’s not that hot and the sea is sometimes warm. Last year, my parents dined in the garden until December. The region suffers from climate change and drought.”
According to the ETC survey, a third of Europeans (33.7%) said they avoided destinations where they could face extreme weather conditions, and 17.3% said they did so by avoiding places with high temperatures. Just over 16% said they were looking for holiday destinations with more stable weather. Almost one in 10 (8.5%) said they changed their travel months, and one in 10 travelers worried about extreme weather.
Citizens of Germany, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Poland and Austria responded to the ETC survey. From the answers, it is clear that July and August are the most popular months for travel from May to October, while warmer destinations – Italy, Spain, France and Greece – remain at the top of preferences.
They choose cooler areas
Some tourism companies are already reporting increased interest in colder destinations. Laura Greenman, managing director of travel agency Magnetic North Travel, which specializes in holidays to colder climates, said that in the summer of 2024, customer inquiries for family holidays in the UK and Ireland had doubled compared to last year. There was also an increase among couples. “Almost all of these customers choose Scandinavia because it’s cooler in the summer than other parts of Europe,” Greenman said.
Reflecting this trend, travel agency Intrepid Travel reported a 40% increase in bookings to Nordic destinations among its UK customers compared to last year, said company general manager Hazel McGuire. Meanwhile, dangerously high temperatures have meant that since last year the company has not run tours in Spain, Turkey and Portugal in July and August.
Stephen Brown, 38, was among those who swapped the glistening seas of the Mediterranean for harsh northern landscapes. A software engineer in London in recent years, Brown returned to the Scottish Highlands – a decision fueled by the fact that the capital, along with southern Europe, is experiencing heatwaves. “I get very hot in here – we live upstairs which gets very hot. I could feel the heat when I breathed. My escape is to be able to go north,” he told the Guardian.
The price of overture
Majorca resident Luca Gogiarola told the Guardian that even though his country is considered a summer paradise, he will go to Sweden for a month in mid-August. A heat wave has intensified in the Balearic island, but that’s not the only thing that made Gogiarola and his girlfriend decide to spend time elsewhere. According to the 36-year-old artist and teacher, locals are paying the price of hypertourism: “I feel blessed and lucky to call it home, (but) it’s becoming more and more an elite place. The island has become an amusement park.”
The couple plans to stay in Stockholm for a month after arranging a house exchange with a colleague in Sweden. “Maybe 10 years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of it – the summer here was great. It used to be easy to endure the heat – you just went to the sea. But now I don’t even think of going to the beach,” said Gogiarola.