The true price of the European heatwave and drought, as well as the consequent wildfires, only surfaces in public accounts months later.
Once the fires are out and the rivers refill, finance ministries are left compensating farmers, rebuilding roads and rail, propping up health services and absorbing revenue a slowed economy never generated.
That burden is outpacing the reserves governments hold against it and this year's stress is severe.
Half of the EU and the UK was under drought in late July, 9% at the most extreme "alert" stage, according to the Copernicus European Drought Observatory, while the rivers Loire, Po, Rhine and Danube touched record lows in August.
Wildfires had burnt more than 505,000 hectares by early August, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, outpacing the same point in 2025, the worst year on record.
