Europe weather: How heatwaves could forever change summer holidays abroad
By Paul Homewood
The BBC is in its little climate bubble again!
For decades holidaymakers have poured into resorts and islands in southern Europe for a relaxing break in the summer sun.
But the scenes of tourists fleeing wildfires in Greece, or trapped indoors unable to enjoy baking beaches in Spain, may give some people second thoughts.
Back-to-back heatwaves brought sweltering temperatures in the 40s to parts of Europe in July, which is expected to break records for the world’s hottest month ever recorded.
Climate change played an "absolutely overwhelming" role in the heat, scientists have concluded – and it is forecast to get worse as the average global temperature keeps rising.
Europe is warming faster than most parts of the world, experts say.
How are holidaymakers reacting?
There is no sign of immediate panic. So far this summer, British demand for foreign holidays seems unchanged by the sweltering temperatures, says travel expert Simon Calder.
The travel industry, travel agents and holiday companies say it is business as usual, he says.
"People are still buying last-minute breaks to the Mediterranean. They want some sunshine, they want some heat, and they’re prepared to pay for it," he adds…..
Some climate campaigners are frustrated with a lack of urgency over changing travel, given that flying contributes a significant amount to greenhouse gas emissions.
Andrew Simms, co-director of the green think tank the New Weather Institute, says: "At first it might seem odd that many might still jump on a climate-polluting flight to holiday in exactly the places where ‘global boiling’, as the UN calls it, will make life harshest, if not intolerable."
But people receive mixed messages, he says.
"All day, every day, people are exposed to adverts promoting polluting high-carbon products and lifestyles that make them seem normal, when flying to hotspots should trigger an emergency warning," he says.
Some people are likely to always risk booking a trip during a heatwave. But it is worth remembering that heat can be dangerous and even deadly, says Dr Ellie Murtagh, UK climate adaptation lead at the British Red Cross.
"If you are travelling with older people, pregnant women, young children or someone with a chronic health condition; take extra care to make sure they’re safe and healthy."
Simon Calder says he hopes there will be a move back to holidays like those before "the jet age of mass air travel began".
Places like the coast of Belgium, or resorts in the Netherlands and Ireland, could become more popular, as could travel to the UK, he suggests.
"I would imagine that the North Sea and Baltic Beaches are going to get it a bit crowded next summer as a result of what we’ve seen this year," he adds.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66340261
The BBC obviously find it difficult to accept that people actually go to Greece and elsewhere for the precise reason that it does get very hot there.
And the actual numbers show that tourists have been flocking to Greece in ever increasing numbers, interrupted only by the pandemic. All this despite global warming.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/444847/total-number-of-inbound-visitors-in-greece/
Of course, being the BBC they had to include a long series of comments from their eco crackpot friends, about the wickedness of air travel, along with the silly nannying advice from Ellie Murtagh.
But I loved that bit about how we’re all going to be holidaying on North Sea coasts in future, to get away from the heat!
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
The BBC is long past its sell-by-date. It is just a propaganda organisation for the UN, the WEF and various green nutters.
‘Climate change played an “absolutely overwhelming” role in the heat, scientists have concluded’
[citation needed]
Gibberish presented as fact.
‘and it is forecast to get worse as the average global temperature keeps rising’
And Gamecock forecasts UK will be hit by an asteroid the size of Oklahoma. Predicting the future is a game the whole family can play.
Yes they’ve done the research, written the paper, had it peer-reviwed, had it published, others have replicated/reproduced it. Apparently.
I note also that the eco zeolots are claiming Europe is getting hotter than the rest of the World. But surely this proves that European heat this year is just the result of local weather conditions and nothing to do with global warming.
I note also that the eco zeolots are claiming Europe is getting hotter than the rest of the World. But surely this proves that European heat this year is just the result of local weather conditions and nothing to do with global warming.
The way
People in the south eastern US schedule vacations to the coast in late summer. Prices drop after Labor Day.
This is HURRICANE SEASON.
Alleged ‘How heatwaves could for ever change summer holidays abroad’ shows BBC’s abject ignorance of people’s behavior. Their assertion is stupid false. And reveals their rotten character.
Here in northern West Virginia, we had a few days of high temperatures into the ’90’s. People were posting on FB how much they wanted snow storms (just wait until we get them). I have never seen this before and attribute it to the news hyping fear over the “never before” temperatures. I did not walk one day as the temperature at 5:00 am was 78. We did not even have a week of it. This morning and yesterday it was 64 at 5:00 am.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your great work.
I also wonder why the British Red Cross has a UK Climate Adaption Lead. Aren’t they supposed to help people who are hungry or are in war zones?
Best regards Soren Nielsen Copenhagen
“Holidaying on North Sea coasts in future”
Then you’d better hope that [toxic] smoke from burning car transporting ships doesn’t blow inland…
I remember Blankenberg in Belgium. Which is precisely why people go to the Mediterranean. But has it changed that much in the Med?
Greek wildfires were mentioned in Homers Iliad and most modern ones are unfortunately arson).
In ancient Rome, the Dog Days of summer –that covers this exact period of the year- were believed to be a time of drought, bad luck, and unrest, when dogs and men would be driven mad by the extreme heat. We know the Roman army sometimes had to march at night due to extreme heat, that Rome’s elite worked only until noon then retreated to their cold water Frigidarium often topped up with ice brought from the mountains and stored in straw filled pits, and pumped cold water through their under floor heating systems and then decamped in high summer to their villas by the sea, retreating inside well shaded gardens and houses with thick walls. Nero decreed that after the great fire that Rome should be rebuilt with tall narrow houses that would provide shade to their neighbours.
In short, those who believe climate is a constant and we are stepping outside of some sort of norm due to human activities are ignoring the lessons of history which demonstrates considerable variability.
Mind you, I am sure the Ancient Romans never thought it a good idea to lay Baking on the Beach in the July afternoon sun or fought for sunloungers around the pool.
On the subject of reporting from baking beaches, I complained to the Beeb about jetting Justin Rowlatt down to a Spanish beach to tell us how warm it was. Their reply was pretty pathetic, as expected, and included; “The potential environmental impact of our operations is something we consider very seriously, and environmental management is integral to the BBC’s vision and our performance. Our overall objective is to carry out our operations in a way which manages and minimises any adverse environmental impact and demonstrates pollution prevention, and to innovate with new technologies to save energy and resources.” What!!
Oh, thats ok then!
“pregnant women”.
Shouldn’t that be childbearing persons or some such? Come on, Georgina. Get with the program!
“But the scenes of tourists fleeing wildfires in Greece, or trapped indoors unable to enjoy baking beaches in Spain, may give some people second thoughts”
Well, we were warned – BBC combining or employing their own “Nudge Unit” – as prefaced by the Face Of The Nudge Unit…
I think sceptical and critical thinking folks might well have no second thoughts about uttering p***o**
I wonder how long it will be until the MSM are ‘told’ to stop the climate change/ global catastrophe (enter own disaster scenario here………) narrative?
Remember covid,Acid rain,hole in the ozone layer, buy a diesel car et all?
10-4. The Australian pseudoscientists who declared Great Barrier Reef corals to be dead shot the tourist industry in the arse.
Paul. This BBC article is surely just a repeat of the article they put out in the hot summer of 2003. Its near identical as then they talked of the mediterreanean climate coming to the south of England in 20yrs time. Oh, that would be now then – so must be a pleasant 30c in England this summer!
It was garbage then and garbage again now.
In response to this reporting circa 2003 an alarmist believer planted several acres of olive trees (in Dorset i think). They all died in the cold winters of 2009-10.
It’s like all those bizarre emails people send you that send to to Snopes, usually to find them false.
About every 5 years, somebody starts sending the same ones out again.
Since the BBC won’t report the views of all responsible opinions on controversial issues, they are plaing the biased, dishonest role of the media in totalitarian tyrannies.
The UK is still not one of these, though given time…
Banning boilers, banning petrol vehicles, etc are full blown tyranny.
And the people’s acceptance of these sets the precedent to do more. Government power is always expanding.
In the U.S., the government has banned incandescent light bulbs. An incredible, horrific abuse of power.
“Hey, Gamecock, it’s just light bulbs!”
The camel’s nose is under the tent. Got one hoof in, too.
This one? 2007 Dr. David Viner
within twenty years, the Mediterranean would become far too hot for
European holiday makers, who would instead flock to Blackpool to take
advantage of warmer summers in the UK.
NONE of the temperatures shown on map at the start of this post are “hot”. Look at them, the highest there is 21.
“Europe is warming faster than most parts of the world, experts say.”
Experts also say every part of Earth is warming faster than all the other parts. All but one of these experts must be wrong.
Yep. The standard line is “_____ is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world.”
Hey, I’ve heard the “World” is warming at twice the rate as the “Rest of the……..” Oops.
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun
And if the sun don’t come you get a tan from standing in the English rain.
Written over 50 years ago. Plus ça change.
O/T but prior to retiring from engineering I resumed musical studies from my late teens (when I considered myself at the vanguard of progrock and the “Canterbury scene”) as a hobby. I had to appraise the musical structure of a Beatles piece for my ATCL in theory. “I am the Walrus” was my selected piece. The above section you quote from is both musically the intro and break of exactly the same duration and the song oddly probably represents one of their most technically complex pieces. Discussing the opposing verse structures with different extensions leading to the same chorus were part of the BS I came out with.
I passed but god knows either why or how!
In a different song:
And the banker never wears a mac
in the pouring rain
very strange
Poor brainwashed tourists.Imagine believing your own eyes rather than the Bbc
Help is at hand, sun chasers!
British tourists to be offered extreme heat insurance in wake of European wildfires
Nick Cavanaugh, the Sensible Weather chief executive and a former climate scientist, told iNews that the company was in the process of deciding what ranges of temperatures and locations could trigger an insurance pay-out.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/british-tourists-to-be-offered-extreme-heat-insurance-in-wake-of-european-wildfires/ar-AA1eAi1l
The BBC are apoplectic following Sunak’s about-turn on north sea exploration. The Rowlatt was close to tears.
What a loser that man is. Racks up thousands of miles on his climate beat using petroleum products then whines about Britain producing its own. Pathetic.
“The BBC are…” Weird isn’t it? A news organisation surely just reports news doesn’t it? Nope, the BBC suddenly thinks it is our moral good conscience and we should adopt their dictated view. Who the f@ck do they actually think they are? And then they wonder why voters (who pay the fee to pay their inflated wage bill – millionaires many of them) suggest defunding them.
How dare we!
It’s been very hot for a few days in a few places. That’s it. As for wildfires, they have always happened in places where’s it’s hot and dry. Utter scare-mongering lies.
Go on holiday to the NE coast. Granted miles and miles of pristine empty beaches….because ….it is #¤%&/( Cold!
Have ANY of the Islington bubble dwellers ever been norwf of Watford Gap I wonder…. granted some may have gone to Durham University who could not get in to Oxford or Cambridge but seriously? This is Islington dinner party nonsense devoid of any attachment to reality but then what is new in ideological LeftieWorld?
PMFB: I had a response on another blog (in The Engineer) from an Islingtonite who berated me for my car usage and said that I should use public transport as it was so much better ……. outside of the city, what public transport??? As you say we are ruled by the “babble-bubble”.
Victorian and Edwardian seaside resorts were developed to serve those with pulmonary troubles.
They provided bracing winds and warm hotels with terraces and glassed in lounges which faced the sun. People wrapped up well on the promenades.
Ideal for that sort of summer holiday . Maybe health gurus can be persuaded to advocate these areas again.
( Sun was provided for the well off on the Continent . Many died there from T B . See -Victorian novels !)
Odd that suddenly Europe is getting hot faster than any where else when I recall that not too long ago the Arctic (or maybe it was Antarctica) was heating up fast than anywhere else. They really make it challenging to believe anything they say.