Will Europe be too warm for holidays by 2028?

Our recent survey shows 71% of UK adults think many Mediterranean destinations will be too warm to travel to by 2028. Southern Europe has experienced two consecutive summers of record-high temperatures and wildfires.

At the moment, Travel Insurance does not cover cancelling your trip because of extreme weather conditions. This could lead to more travellers opting for cooler places in northern and eastern Europe.

We asked a nationally representative sample of 2,077 adults which popular European destinations they thought would be too hot to travel to by 2028.

The top five countries that respondents said will become too hot to visit by 2028 were:

• Turkey (42% of respondents)
• Spain (41%)
• Greece (39%)
• Cyprus (35%)
• Portugal (29%)

People who have changed their lifestyle to live more sustainably were more likely to expect these popular destinations to be too warm for holidays by 2028 (84%). However, even people unaware of climate issues recognised that rising temperatures could make many European countries unsuitable to visit (44%).

Some other European destinations that were of concern included:

• Italy (27%)
• France (13%)
• the UK (12%)

However, relatively few people saw high temperatures as being a major issue facing:

• Germany (6%)
• Hungary (6%)
• Poland (4%)
• Scandinavia (3%)
• Switzerland (3%)

Garry Nelson, our Head of Corporate Affairs, commented: “This is now the second year when holidaymakers have experienced extreme weather in southern Europe – and consumers are currently unable to claim on their insurance if they decide to cancel their holiday because of soaring temperatures.

With blistering heat waves highlighting the climate emergency, our new research suggests some people may be starting to rethink their holiday destinations for future years, and we could see a move to cooler climates if the acute heat and wildfires become an annual trend around the Med.”

The research was carried out by Sago Research among a nationally representative sample of 2,077 adults in June 2023.