June 2026 ranked as the warmest June ever recorded in western Europe and the second hottest worldwide per Copernicus data. The top three warmest years globally were 2024 followed by 2023 and then 2025.

Increasing heat and frequent heatwaves encourage greater reliance on cooling systems. This trend boosts overall energy needs throughout Europe. Household cooling energy use across the EU doubled from 2018 levels by 2024.

How exactly has cooling energy demand shifted in different European nations? Which places experienced the sharpest rises? And where does cooling represent the biggest portion of total energy consumption?

EU household cooling energy figures illustrate clear growth in demand. Totals climbed from 40.5 thousand terajoules in 2018 up to 80.4 thousand terajoules in 2024. This represents a near doubling at 99 percent.

Back in 2010 the figure was only 15.5 thousand terajoules. That means usage expanded by 420 percent across those 14 years.

The nuance in largest growth figures

Shifts from 2018 to 2024 differ substantially by country. Yet these percentage changes require careful reading.

Nations that once consumed minimal or zero cooling energy have begun using air conditioning and similar technologies. Although their totals stay modest the shift produces large percentage jumps.

Austria provides one case where household cooling energy rose from 22 TJ in 2018 to 253 TJ in 2024.

This positioned Austria as the leader in percentage growth for cooling energy between 2018 and 2024 exceeding 1000 percent. Czechia followed among EU members with a 244 percent rise. Italy placed third at 193 percent growth showing continued expansion even where cooling systems are already widespread.

Cooling energy use also more than doubled in Hungary at 171 percent Finland at 163 percent Spain at 127 percent Slovenia at 114 percent and Greece at 103 percent during the same span.

Alongside Italy the rises in Spain and Greece highlight growing cooling requirements across southern Europe.

Among major EU economies France recorded a 52 percent increase while Germany showed relative stability at just 8 percent growth.

A zero value on related charts means no cooling energy use was recorded rather than indicating zero change.

Cooling forms a notable portion in select nations

The proportion of energy devoted to space cooling within overall household use differs markedly across Europe due to varying climates and locations.

In 2024 the EU wide average reached only 0.84 percent remaining under 1 percent.

Yet cooling makes up a substantial share in certain countries. Cyprus tops the list at 16 percent of household energy going to cooling. Malta follows at 15 percent and Albania an EU candidate reaches 13.4 percent.

Greece directs 7.4 percent of household energy toward cooling. Shares exceed 2 percent in North Macedonia at 3 percent Montenegro at 2.9 percent Spain at 2.5 percent Italy at 2.3 percent and Croatia at 2.1 percent.

Italy consumes one third of EU cooling energy

Italy leads with 26.3 thousand TJ in cooling energy the highest in the EU. It represents nearly one third of the overall EU amount at 32.7 percent.

Spain comes second both in share and total use at 17.8 percent and 14.3 thousand TJ. Greece holds the third highest share in the EU at 14.8 percent ahead of France at 11.8 percent.

Including candidate countries Turkey ranks third in total cooling energy consumption at 13.6 thousand TJ.

June 2026 heatwaves boost electricity demand and prices

The rising cooling demand already affects Europe's electricity sector.

During June 2026 heatwaves electricity demand increased notably in the EU's four largest economies with France seeing the largest jump. France's grid operator RTE noted that each 1 degree Celsius temperature increase typically adds 0.7 GW to 1 GW of demand and cooling likely contributed an additional 10 to 14 GW on peak heat days.

Elevated demand drove wholesale electricity prices upward. Prices exceeded 200 euros per megawatt hour in Germany approached 160 euros per MWh in France and passed 110 euros per MWh in Spain. The increases stemmed from both higher cooling needs and supply limits including low wind output in Germany plus temporary reductions in French nuclear generation due to warm river water. While wholesale spikes do not instantly affect household bills sustained rises may eventually lead to higher retail electricity rates.

Europe heats at double the global rate

Europe warms faster than any other continent at twice the worldwide average pace. FAO figures show the ten countries with the largest temperature rises in 2023 were all European underscoring climate change effects on the region.