Extreme weather and tourism

The terrain is so dry, all it takes is one spark to set off an inferno. The worst forest fires since records began raged in Spain this summer. In Valencia, Alicante and Murcia, firefighting teams worked non-stop. Thousands of residents and tourists had to be evacuated. The tourist regions of Andalusia in the south and Catalonia and Aragon in the northeast were hit particularly hard.

In France, too, the drought reached historic dimensions. Fires ignited all over the country, including in the Gironde area on the Atlantic coast, a popular holiday spot. Campsites were ablaze, thousands of tourists were evacuated and highways closed. The 1,000-year-old forest on the famous Dune de Pilat near Arcachon also fell victim to the flames.

The Algarve is a tourist hot spot, and hotel pools and long showers consume vital water reserves. Since Portugal lives off visiting tourists, droughts and water shortages pose a dilemma. Hotels in the Algarve have had to consider limiting water consumption, although exactly how to do so remains an open question. Tourists are likely to continue splashing around for the time being.

With temperatures at over 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) this summer, tourists in Vienna enjoyed cooling off under a public mister. Although it's one of Europe's greenest cities, it has been hit hard by climate change, as heat accumulates disproportionately. The city launched a heat action plan, including misting showers as well as "cooling zones," drinking fountains and more trees.

This summer, fires tore through parts of Greece's mainland, near Athens, and on the vacation islands of Crete and Lesbos. A fire on Lesbos spread to the seaside resort of Vatera at the end of July where people were forced to seek refuge on the beach and were then rescued by the coast guard.

This summer, tourists who booked a guided tour of Dubrovnik felt the heat as they walked through the city as it sizzled at 43 degrees Celsius. Everywhere in Europe's holiday regions, tourism providers tried to keep tourists happy. They, in return, did their best to ignore the extreme weather and its consequences.

In Amsterdam, people fled to the sea to escape the heat — or to the Amstel River. But in the Netherlands, too, a drought caused problems for the rivers. Water levels fell everywhere and salty seawater penetrated waterways. The even bigger concern, however, were the dikes that protect 60% of the land area from flooding. They are far too dry and are becoming unstable.

In recent years, extreme weather has deformed landscapes. One of the major tourist sites in northern Italy, Lake Garda, recently recorded its lowest water level in 15 years. Bare rock appeared around the Sirmione Peninsula. Tourists don't recognize the beaches, and entire bays are disappearing. Tourism officials stressed, however, that vacations at the lake are still possible.

Protective sheets have been spread over last winter's ice. Nevertheless, for the first time in 2,000 years, the Col de Zanfleuron, part of the Glacier 3000 ski area, is almost ice free. Glaciologists expect that by the end of September, 2022, only bare rock will remain. As recently as 2012, the ice here was 15 meters (49 ft) thick. The melted water will form a lake as it has elsewhere in the Alps.

This is London? This summer, the parks were dry and yellow and few people used them as the oases they typically are. It was simply too hot. Temperatures hit the 40 degree Celsius mark as early as July and the UK declared a weather emergency, followed in August by a drought emergency in large parts of the country: no filling swimming pools, no watering lawns and no washing cars.

The Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a magnet for visitors. But drought this summer caused water levels to sink below 40 centimeters (16 inches) in some sections. Freighters could only operate with reduced cargo. Passenger ships were also restricted, with ferries services suspended. Some river cruises were canceled with residents and tourists needing to make detours.