Europeans have long treated air conditioning like an American excess, largely considering it bad for the planet, the human body and unnecessary in well-made buildings and gentler climates.

But now, most of the continent is now in the grips of a suffocating heatwave — no longer an unusual occurrence for Europe. 

According to the Copernicus Observatory, the five hottest years on record for Europe have all been in the last six years, led by 2024, when the average temperature across the continent was 2.65 degrees above normal pre-industrial temperatures (last year was the third-hottest year on record for Europe).

It is too early to know where 2026 will fit on that list, but meteorologists and researchers are already calling the current European heatwave “the worst ever recorded.” 

Nearly a dozen countries have already reported record high temperatures for the month of June. 

In Italy, 18 of the country’s 27 largest cities — including Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice — are under red alert, meaning that even healthy people are advised to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day. Major tourist centers have been handing out free bottles of water to pedestrians. 

In France, high river temperatures have reduced the levels of water available to cool nuclear reactors, cutting output by around 7%. 

There are reports of parents in the U.K. booking hotel rooms for their infant children because their homes are considered too hot to be safe. Hotel reservation service Booking.com reported that its search filter for “air conditioning” has tripled in use since June 1. 

Meanwhile, the A2 freeway in Germany buckled from the heat, forcing closures, and there are warnings of possible train derailments due to warped tracks in Austria and Sweden. 

Every year, heat claims an average of 175,000 lives across Europe, according to the World Health Organization. In France alone in recent weeks, 40 people have died from drowning as they sought relief from extreme heat. 

Air conditioning can cut heat-related deaths by 75%, according to a 2007 study, and research published by The Lancet found that in 2019, 195,000 heat-related deaths among people over the age of 65 were averted thanks to AC being adopted. 

But only about 20% of Europeans have air conditioning at home, compared to 90% in the U.S.

Across Europe, sales for home units have been skyrocketing for years, and this year many stores are already sold out.

Golnaz Davarpanah, 81, who lives in a Paris suburb, told CBS News last week that she and a friend went "to several stores to buy one, but they were all sold out."

"During the day it's better for me to be in my car than at home," she said. "It's surreal."

Europe is now the fastest-warming continent, according to Copernicus, with an average of 4.5 degrees of temperature increase compared to pre-industrial levels, around twice the global average.

All the changes are forcing a cultural and political question Europe has avoided for years: Can a continent that emits lower levels of greenhouse gasses and other air pollutants than most of the industrialized world maintain its low-environmental impact policies while also keeping its citizens safe? 

Air conditioning is at the center of the dilemma. Part of Europe’s lower carbon footprint has come from a way of life that uses less energy: smaller homes, denser cities, smaller cars, more mass transit, higher fuel prices, and much less air conditioning.

The average European emits only around 40% as much carbon dioxide as the average American. But the figure was 33% a decade ago.

According to the Census Bureau, there are around 140 million air conditioners in the U.S. That is still far ahead of Europe, which has around 30% more residents. But numbers in Europe are on the rise: They’re forecast to nearly double to around 104 million between 2020 and 2030.In 1990, there were fewer than 7 million air conditioners on the continent.