Europeans' experiences of climate change

The report "Overheated and underprepared: Europeans' experiences of living with climate change" was jointly developed by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) and is based on the findings from an online survey. It explores the experiences of climate-related impacts, resilience actions taken at home, the perception of local actions implemented, and concerns about future impacts among a sample of Europeans. The data in which the report is based on is presented in the data viewer below.

• This report is based on an online survey of over 27,000 respondents across 27 European countries and presents respondents′ experiences of climate impacts, their concerns about future impacts, and the resilience measures they have taken at home and observed in their neighbourhoods.

• More than 80% of survey respondents reported being affected by at least one climate-related issue (heat, flooding, wildfires, water scarcity, wind, mosquito/tick bites) in the last 5 years. Heat was the most commonly reported issue: nearly half of respondents felt too hot in their home, work, or place of education, while over 60% of respondents reported feeling too hot outside in their neighbourhood.

• Over 52% of respondents were very or quite concerned about extremely high temperatures in the future and 48% felt very or quite concerned about wildfires. Women, the youngest respondents (16‑29 years old) and respondents from southern and central-eastern Europe are the groups most concerned about future climate impacts.

• One in five respondents did not have any of the household measures that were listed in the survey designed to protect against extreme weather (e.g. shading, air conditioning or ventilation, flood proofing, rainwater collection, extreme weather insurance, backup power system, and emergency kit in place).

• There are strong regional differences in the climate impacts felt by respondents and the resilience measures reported. Climate impacts were experienced most by respondents in southern and central‑eastern Europe. Regionally, the group with the lowest percentage of respondents reporting both climate impacts and the presence of the authority-led measures listed in the survey were from northern Europe.

• Over 38% of all respondents stated that they could not afford to keep their home adequately cool in the summer; the percentage increases to 66% amongst respondents who have experienced financial difficulties.

• A higher percentage of less affluent respondents, renters, or those in poor health reported experiencing climate impacts compared to all other respondents. At the same time, fewer respondents from these groups reported adopting household-level climate resilience measures or seeing authority-led measures implemented in their neighbourhood.

• Ensuring the well-being and prosperity of European society under the rapidly changing climate requires a broad implementation of measures preventing and preparing for climate impacts, the affordability of household-level resilience measures and the fair distribution of authority-led adaptation actions

This data viewer allows users to explore the experiences of climate-related impacts, resilience actions taken at home, the perception of local actions implemented, and concerns about future impacts among a sample of Europeans. The data presented in the viewer is based on findings from the 2025 Living and Working in the EU e-survey.