Our latest research shows that 71% of UK adults believe many popular holiday destinations in the Med will be too hot to visit by 2028.
We’re already seeing a second summer of record-breaking heat waves and wildfires across southern Europe.
Currently, travel insurance does not cover choosing to cancel your holiday because of extreme weather conditions. This may well lead to more holidaymakers turning to cooler climates 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 visit by 2028.
Of the most popular European holiday countries, the top five that survey respondents expected to be too hot to travel to by 2028 were:
People who have changed their lifestyle to live more sustainably were most likely to expect these popular destinations as too hot to visit by 2028 (84%). However, 44% of people unaware of climate issues still recognised that rising temperatures could make many European countries unsuitable for holidays.
Some other European destinations that were of concern included:
However, people were less worried about hot temperatures becoming a major issue in:
- 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