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  • 13 hours ago
At the weather's mercy: How many people in the EU can't afford air conditioning?

Thousands have no choice but to endure extreme temperatures. With heatwaves emerging as the top climate concern for Europeans, how is summer preparedness going across the continent?

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/06/01/at-the-weathers-mercy-how-many-people-in-the-eu-cant-afford-air-conditioning

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Transcript
00:00Hot temperatures have arrived early. Is Europe prepared for a scorching summer?
00:10The answer is not quite. The vast majority in the EU, 68%, don't have any air conditioning
00:17or fan systems at home, according to recent research by the European Environment Agency.
00:23While some countries may simply not need it, a staggering 38% nonetheless say they cannot
00:29afford cooling systems. 42% of people in France don't have enough money for air conditioning,
00:3646% in Greece, 45% in Portugal, as well as over a third in Spain, Italy and Romania.
00:45There are of course other ways to keep cool, like shutters, awnings or external shading. Still,
00:52the majority of people in Spain, Portugal, Italy or Cyprus say their houses don't even have those
00:57kind of features. And that doesn't mean they aren't worried about extreme temperatures.
01:04Worry levels run high in the Mediterranean, 75% in Cyprus, 71% in Greece and 70% in Malta
01:12say they
01:13are very or quite concerned about extremely high temperatures. In general, high temperatures are
01:20the number one climate-related concern for EU citizens with 85% more than floods, fires and water scarcity.
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