Older Walkers Warned off Overheated Mediterranean as Tourism Shifts North
For decades, the thought of meandering along thyme-fragrant trails on sun-drenched Mediterranean islands has enticed Britons and others from the colder parts of Europe.
However, increasing temperatures due to global warming are making large areas of southern Europe unsuitable for hiking during the peak summer months, according to experts.
The risks associated with extreme heat have been starkly demonstrated this month with the deaths of several hikers, most of whom were in Greece.
Age seemed to be a key factor – most victims were in their sixties and seventies.
Many adventure travel companies have stopped offering hiking holidays in Spain, Portugal, and Greece during July and August because of the hazards posed by high temperatures, especially for older adults.
Travel companies are now adapting to rapidly changing climate conditions by offering more trips in the spring and autumn and shifting focus to cooler northern destinations like Scotland and Scandinavia.
“We’ve significantly altered our hiking options in southern Europe. We no longer offer hikes in July and August in Portugal, Spain, and Greece.
“This change has occurred over the last few years and is linked to the increasing temperatures. The heat posed a danger,” said Hazel McGuire, general manager for Europe at Intrepid Travel.
“Scientific studies consistently show that adults older than 65, people with cardiopulmonary and other chronic diseases, and very young children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heat,” a British medical journal noted in a recent report.
Michael Mosley
The most high-profile case was that of Michael Mosley, the 67-year-old British doctor and health journalist known to millions of television viewers for his documentaries.
He died after going for a walk by himself on the island of Symi in the Aegean in temperatures that reached 38C (100F) – and his was just one of several deaths.
On Friday, a 70-year-old British man was found dead in the Spanish Pyrenees, four days after he set off on a hike.
A 74-year-old Dutch hiker was found dead on the island of Samos and earlier this week a 67-year-old German walker died while hiking near Tripiti Gorge on the rugged south coast of Crete. He had contacted his wife to say he was lost and had run out of water.
A 55-year-old American tourist died on the tiny island of Mathraki near Corfu. Another American, Albert Calibet, a 59-year-old retired policeman, went missing on a hike on the Aegean island of Amorgos and has yet to be found.
Mr. Calibet had set off on a well-marked path from the north of the island to a small port called Katapola. He knew the island well and was an experienced hiker, making his disappearance something of a mystery.
“He may have chosen to take a tougher route, and perhaps overestimated his capabilities. The heat has been intense,” said Calliope Despotidi, the deputy mayor of Amorgos.
A Greek police spokeswoman said that hikers running into trouble is not new – it happens every year. “But this year, it seems more people became disoriented during the heatwave.”
Athens tops 43C
Greece recorded its earliest heatwave last week, leading to the closure of the Acropolis and some schools as temperatures soared to 43C (109F) in Athens. This June is on track to be the hottest ever recorded in Greece.
Experts now strongly advise against hiking in places like Greece during the hottest months.
Intrepid Travel, which offers tours to destinations worldwide, recorded 121 more climate-related incidents affecting its clients last year than in 2022, including extreme heat, floods, and wildfires.
“Climate change is having a significant impact on itineraries. We’re observing a trend towards Scandinavia and cooler northern European climates,” said Ms. McGuire.
Shoulder season
Intrepid saw a 61 percent increase last year in “shoulder season” bookings – the period between peak and off-peak – in western Europe and a 29 percent increase to southern Europe.
The company has added more holiday packages during this time to destinations such as Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal so that customers can enjoy cooler weather.
“Customers want to travel more in the spring and autumn, and part of that is due to the heat,” said Ms. McGuire.
Scorching heat is becoming more of an issue in Europe, with temperatures rising at roughly twice the global average rate, according to the World Meteorological Organisation and the EU’s climate agency, Copernicus.
In Europe, deaths linked to hot weather have increased by a third over the past 20 years.
Greece has established a heat-related health warning system called Heat-Alarm. Scientists launching it last year noted that “the eastern Mediterranean is experiencing more frequent and prolonged heat waves. Future climate projections suggest such extremes will become the norm for eastern Mediterranean countries in the 21st century.”
Older people more susceptible
Older individuals retain heat in their bodies more than younger people, making them more susceptible to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, explained Christos Giannaros, one of the project’s lead scientists.
Travel patterns in Europe are dramatically shifting, said Ginny Lunn, the owner of hiking travel company WalkingWomen.
“Our busiest time is now April, before it gets too hot in places like Greece and southern Spain, and then the end of September, October, and November. We’re now going to southern Spain in December – you still get wonderful blue skies.
“In the summer, we are heading north to Norway, which has become very popular, and Scotland. These are now our main destinations for summer hiking. The heat is arriving earlier. You just have to rethink how you plan your holiday.”
Most of WalkingWomen’s clients are over 50 and need to be particularly aware of the dangers posed by the heat.
“We advise clients to carry two litres of water, wear a hat, and choose shady routes by water if possible. We use local guides who are highly experienced and can adapt to changing weather conditions,” said Ms. Lunn.
School holidays
While empty nesters and retirees can avoid July and August and instead opt to go on holiday in the spring or autumn, families with school-age children are bound to the school holidays.
For them, the advice is to change destination – to avoid the hottest parts of southern Europe in high summer and choose cooler places. Last year, research by a travel insurance company found that 71 percent of Britons believe that holiday destinations in the Mediterranean, such as Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey, will be too hot to visit within the next five years.
“We have always tried to encourage our clients to travel off-season, but climate concerns have made this more important. Why go to Lisbon in August when you will suffer in the heat?” said Justin Wateridge, managing director of Steppes Travel, a company that arranges luxury holidays worldwide, from spotting snow leopards in India to tracking wolves in Italy’s Apennine mountains.
‘It’s about being savvy’
“If a client calls wanting to climb Mt Toubkal [the highest peak in Morocco] in July, we would suggest they go at another time when it is cooler. Suppliers on the ground are definitely offering more availability during shoulder seasons like spring and autumn. It’s about being smart about destinations.”
A report released by the EU last year about the impact of climate change on tourism concluded that “coastal regions in northern Europe are projected to register substantial increase in demand during summer and early autumn months while… southern coastal regions will strongly lose summer tourist flows.
“Tourism demand is projected to increase in the spring and autumn shoulder seasons.”
Avoiding the increasingly unbearable heat of southern Europe in the high summer is not just a matter of safety. “Hiking when it’s 40C is not much fun,” said Ms. McGuire. “We have to be mindful of people’s enjoyment.”
