Extreme weather events on the rise, 11.9 billion in damages in 2025. Heavy bill for coastal areas

Extreme weather events are increasing, and the damage to communities and citizens is also being felt. From North to South, passing through the islands, we are dealing with the effects of drought, floods and flooding. Also because the memory of Cyclone Harry, which hit Sardinia, Sicily and Calabria, with damages of over 2 billion euros, is still alive. It is certainly no coincidence that the state of serious alarm due to bad weather (downgraded to critical only twelve hours later) declared by the Sardinia Region and Civil Protection kept the mayors of 83 municipalities in suspense for almost 24 hours.

A growing phenomenon

That the phenomenon is growing is underlined by Legambiente's City Climate Observatory which in its reports highlights how "the climate crisis is accelerating the pace in Italy too" causing damage, making the territory more fragile, and also endangering people's lives".

«The damage count is increasing, because the events are increasing - underlines Andrea Minutolo, scientific coordinator of the Observatory -. For this year it is still difficult to have a precise estimate, because there are still no consolidated studies of the damage that has occurred."

The figures

The data relating to 2025 arrive from the environmentalist association, when 376 extreme weather events were recorded, +5.9% compared to 2024. Flooding, wind damage and river overflows are the most frequent. «The Peninsula - they add from the environmentalist association - which will be in the streets on December 5th for these topics - pays the price of sporadic and uncoordinated adaptation actions, devoid of multi-sectorality and a multi-level approach. This happens in a context in which the damage suffered in the country by heat waves, droughts and floods in 2025, according to a recent study by the University of Mannheim, amounts to 11.9 billion euros and in the future, with a projection to 2029, they will rise to 34.2 billion euros".

Between drought and floods

Everything is linked to water: drought in summer and torrential rains in a few hours or days. «When six months' worth of water arrives in a very short period of time - adds Minutolo - it is clear that there is damage. Which vary depending on the areas. For example, in Rome there are floods in the city, the subways are closed."