As Europe’s railways buckle under record heat, roads melt and power grids strain, countries are looking to a range of ways to repair aging infrastructure, from drones and artificial intelligence sensors that inspect tracks to a surprisingly simple tool: white paint.
Temperatures at Norway’s Oslo Airport were expected to hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, and staff were watering the tarmac to keep cool.
It’s a remarkable shift for a country more accustomed to dealing with cold, and reflects how Europe is adapting to rising temperatures that are sparking wildfires that are killing thousands and putting infrastructure under increasing pressure.
“In Norway, asphalt has to be able to withstand very cold and quite warm temperatures,” said Jørn Arvid Remark, operations engineer at Norway’s state-owned airport operator Avinor, adding that the airport is testing a new heat-resistant asphalt.
The fire brigade sprayed approximately 9,000 liters of water on key parts of the building. tarmacit can be damaged at high temperatures because it softens under the weight of the aircraft.
Europe’s roads and railways, many of which were built decades ago, are increasingly difficult to cope with. Temperatures across Western Europe on Wednesday were 5.5 degrees Celsius higher than the July 15 average, according to the Reuters Climate Monitoring Centre.
“Our infrastructure is simply not prepared for the extreme weather events we’re going to see,” said Chris Dodwell, co-director of Impax Asset Management’s Center for Sustainability, adding that once rare heat waves are becoming regular events.
A 2025 report from major central banks estimated that severe weather events including heat waves, droughts and floods could reduce euro zone GDP by as much as 4.7% by 2030.
Rising temperatures mean more storms and flooding
The impact is keenly felt by European railways.
An EU report in April found that more than 70% of railway managers were seeing increasing disruption from extreme weather. Weather-related disruptions between 2015 and 2024 are equivalent to one to three years of disruption to rail service in the region.
Heat can cause track expansion, points, signal and power failures. However, extreme weather caused by high temperatures can be even more damaging.
“The most critical problem for the rail network is not the heat itself, but the thunderstorms, strong winds and landslides that often occur after heat waves,” said Oliviero Baselli, a professor at Milan’s Bocconi University.
“Italy’s rail network is already suffering severe damage due to climate-related events, especially the Alpine routes.”
Northern European countries such as the UK face particular challenges because much of their rail infrastructure is designed for a narrower temperature range than networks in southern Europe.
John Lawrence, chairman of the IET Rail Technology Network, said many rail components and systems are “essentially frozen in time”.
He added that heat-resistant treatment of the entire network would be costly, although operators were exploring more stable sleeper designs and technologies such as artificial intelligence and drones to “speed up the number of tracks that can be inspected and monitored”.
Network Rail has committed to investing £2.6 billion ($3.5 billion) between 2024 and 2029 to help its network withstand increasingly extreme weather.
However, not all solutions are expensive, and some operators use traditional methods to reflect heat. The Stockholm Transport Authority spent about 100,000 Swedish krona ($10,300) in May and June to paint sections of subway track white to reduce the risk of track buckling.
Heat waves ‘more intense, more frequent and longer lasting’
Martin Wilson, engineering director at French rail equipment maker Alstom, said Europe could learn lessons from transit systems such as the Riyadh metro and Dubai trams, which are designed to operate at temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
“Today’s heat waves tend to be more intense, more frequent and longer lasting,” he said. “Rising temperatures pose increasing challenges to rail systems across Europe.”
Roads face similar pressures.
Engineers say northern European highways are built primarily to withstand damage from freeze-thaw cycles, while southern countries such as Spain use asphalt mixes better suited to summer temperatures.
As countries deal with cold winters and hot summers, finding the right balance is becoming increasingly difficult.
“They may have to adjust their approach,” said Spaniard Jose Pablo Sás Villar. Councilf civil engineer, a Nordic planner and road builder.
Paris transport operator RATP has set up a heat wave emergency team and is developing a climate adaptation plan before the end of the year.
In Norway, officials say warm, wet weather is changing the way new infrastructure is designed.
“Roads will become stronger,” said Grethe Vikane, director of social development and climate at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
“So they can withstand the challenges they are already experiencing and the consequences of expected climate change.”
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(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga, Alexander Klyve Gudbrandsen and Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk, Sam Tabahriti and Simon Jessop in London, Giulia Segreti in Rome, Greta Rosen Fondahn in Stockholm; Writing by Paul Sandle; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Mark Potter)
