Brutal summer heat wave has Europe sweating on its future

Climate challenges

The high temperatures have shut down critical infrastructure across the continent, such as rail lines, bridges, airports, and nuclear power plants, partly because many facilities were just not designed to cope with the extreme heat.

Yang Yi, a podcaster based in London, shared his experience of being stuck in a stuffy train bound for Brighton on the southern coast of England on June 21.

"It was a bright sunny day, and I just thought of taking my dog to the seaside town for a walk," said Yang. "But I didn't expect that we would end up walking on the rail track."

Within 30 minutes of the train departing, a fault near Loughborough Junction in south London caused all services to come to a halt. Soon, the air-conditioning on the train was down, and Yang was stuck in a train full of people.

"After another 20 minutes waiting in the stifling hot cabin, people became upset," recalled Yang. "Then (there was) a cracking sound, some people broke the emergency button, and pushed the doors open to let fresh air in."

After waiting for another half an hour, a cabin announcement said passengers could evacuate the train.

"I took my dog, followed people getting out of the cabin and walked along the track for about 200 meters to an emergency exit, where police, an ambulance and fire engines had all arrived," said Yang.

On June 30, speed restrictions were imposed on two main lines out of London as temperatures on the track neared 60 C. The UK's Network Rail stress tests its steel rails based on the mean summer track temperature in the UK, which is 27 degrees. Heat waves can bring disruptions to rail services, with tracks sometimes buckling.

Being comfortable inside their own homes is another challenge Europeans are facing this summer.

Most European homes were built to retain rather than expel heat, and typically don't have air conditioners. Only around 5 percent of homes in the UK have cooling systems, many of which are portable AC units, and in Germany, that figure is 3 percent, CNN reported.

Sun Yuzhen, who has lived in Italy for nearly 10 years, said: "Springs have become shorter, and it feels like summer comes all of a sudden after May."

"In the past two or three years, more and more people are considering buying a mobile air conditioner, including me," said Sun, who now lives in the old town of Naples. A small mobile air conditioner doesn't require installing an outside component so there is no need to make a hole in the wall, she explained.

"It's a good choice for us, because many people living in old houses face difficulties in installing air conditioners due to restrictions on older buildings," she said.

"However, the growing consumption of electricity, thanks to the rising number of mobile air conditioners, has brought two blackouts recently in Naples."

Since home cooling systems have not previously been a necessity in Europe, making buildings and other infrastructure more resistant to heat will require massive renovations.