In a short -term perspective, the weather is often good for surprises – and can also condense into amazing data in the long term, i.e. into climate issues. A good example of this is Europe in 2024, the new annual report “European State of the Climate”, published together by the European Climate Change Service of Copernicus (C3S) and the world weather organization WMO. It was not just the hottest year on the continent since the beginning of reliable measurements. Usually the differences between the north and south of Europe are greatest, but in the previous year an east-west gradient emerged.