Heat killed about 50,000 people in Europe's cities this summer, a record, and scientists put two in three of the deaths down to climate change

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27 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Nearly all coral reefs rated close to collapse

   The IUCN, a global conservation body that advises the United Nations, rated the world's shallow coral reefs on Thursday, the first assessment of its kind, across 127 regions. [4][5] About 24% are already critically endangered, and that rises to 96% once the expected warming is counted. [4] Critically endangered means an extremely high risk of collapse before 2075, when a reef can no longer keep itself going because its reef-building corals have died. [4] The results were presented at COP17, the UN nature summit in Armenia. [6]

   Critically endangered now24%

   Once warming is counted96%

   Why it matters — Reefs cover about 1% of the ocean but hold a quarter of all sea species, and up to a billion people rely on them for food, tourism or protection from storms. [6] Only one shallow reef system has collapsed so far, in the western Galapagos, after the strong El Nino of 1982-83. [6]

2. 03

   El Nino may break its record this winter

   The World Meteorological Organization, the UN's weather agency, said on Wednesday that the tropical Pacific could run 3.8C above normal from November to January. [7] An El Nino, a natural warming of that ocean, is declared at just 0.5C above normal. [7] Its head, Celeste Saulo, said past record El Ninos reached about 3C, so this one is beyond that. [8] NASA's sea-height satellites show it on track to be bigger than the El Nino of 1997-98. [9]

   Why it matters — An El Nino moves rain and heat around the world, bringing drought to some places, floods to others and extra heat to large parts of the planet. [7] New Scientist reports that coral experts fear it will bring another mass bleaching of reefs. [6]

3. 04

   UN fund sets aside $20 million for Nepal

   The board of the UN's Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, set up to help poorer countries pay for climate harm, voted on Thursday to allocate $20 million to Nepal. [11][10] It is the first time the fund has set money aside as a quick response to a disaster. [11] Nepal's flood on 26 August, along its border with Tibet, killed about 1,500 people, and more than 5,000 are still missing. [10] Nepal puts the losses at $2.69 billion, so the money is less than 1% of them. [11]

   Money set aside$20m

   Nepal's flood losses$2,690m

   Why it matters — Nepal must still apply formally, and the earliest approval is at the board's December meeting, so the money may not arrive until next year. [11] So far 119 countries have asked the fund for $2.8 billion, and up to $350 million is available in December. [11]

4. 05

   Britain faces some of Europe's dearest energy

   Britain expects to pay some of the highest energy prices in Europe this winter, because it must outbid its neighbours to import gas and power. [12] National Gas, which runs Britain's gas pipes, struck a last-minute deal with Interconnector, the Belgian owner of a pipeline to Britain, to keep its pumps ready for a cold snap. [12][13] Ofgem, the energy regulator, approved it, adding about 10p a month to the average gas bill. [12] Britain imports almost 60% of its gas. [13]

   Why it matters — Gas shipped in by sea costs about three times what it did before the Middle East crisis cut Gulf supplies, and Europe ended August on course for its lowest winter gas stores in 13 years. [12] Neso, the grid operator, says the lights will stay on but expects some tight days. [14]

5. 06

   Storm Austen arrives, and Boelo follows

   Storm Austen reached Britain on Friday with an amber wind warning for Cornwall and parts of Devon, and gusts of 60 to 70mph, up to 80mph on exposed coasts. [15] The Met Office, Britain's weather service, warned of power cuts and a possible danger to life, and some schools closed. [15] Every school in Jersey was told to shut, and parts of Brittany, in France, could see gusts near 90mph. [15] Parts of Scotland could get up to 80mm of rain, and trains there were slowed. [16]

   Why it matters — Storm Boelo follows on Saturday with wind warnings for Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, and gusts up to 80mph. [15] After weeks of wet weather, more rain on soaked ground raises the risk of local floods. [15]

6. 07

   Floods kill four in southern France

   At least four people died in southern France after Storm Adam brought floods on Tuesday. [17] Two women, aged 86 and 26, drowned in a cellar in the Bouches-du-Rhone region, near Marseille. [17] In Corsica a man was found dead after floodwater swept away a car. [17] Dozens of people in Mouries and Saint-Martin-de-Crau spent the night in emergency shelters, and the region's top state official said the water rose higher than ever before. [17]

   Why it matters — The same storm had already killed at least three people in eastern Spain, where Valencia's government approved 23.5 million euros of aid. [17] France then put five western departments on alert for Storm Austen's winds. [17]

7. 08

   Britain plans an AI unit to spot wildfires

   Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister, will announce an AI unit to spot wildfires at the government's first wildfire summit on Friday, after the hottest summer on record. [18] Fire crews will get 45 million pounds for protective kit made for wildfires. [18] The Guardian found that more than half of the 29 fire services that answered its questions had none. [18] Military planes and helicopters will help on hard-to-reach ground, and 25 million pounds will go to restoring dried-out peat bogs in England so they hold more water. [18]

   Why it matters — In Wales, the Fire Brigades Union says crews climbed hills in unsuitable boots, and in mid-August no fire engines were free across one whole region. [19] The Met Office found climate change made this summer's heat about 130 times more likely. [18]

8. 09

   Burnham says Jackdaw does not end net zero

   A day after Britain approved the Jackdaw gas field, Prime Minister Andy Burnham wrote that he would still block new North Sea licences and reach net zero by 2050. [20] He said Jackdaw would raise Britain's own gas output by about 6%. [21] Researchers and campaign groups cited in The Conversation say it will meet just 2% of Britain's gas demand for ten years. [22] Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said only she can decide on Rosebank, a much bigger oil field. [20] Donald Trump, the US president, urged Britain to drill full blast. [8]

   Why it matters — Fahnbulleh said that if colleagues overruled her, Britain's government would lose in court. [20] That sets up a possible clash with Britain's Treasury, which wants oil and gas money for a new energy wealth fund. [20]

9. 10

   Snowy 2.0 now costs up to A$25 billion

   Snowy Hydro, the power company owned by Australia's government, said on Thursday night that its Snowy 2.0 project will cost at least A$22.2 billion and up to A$25 billion, in Australian dollars. [23] It was announced in 2017 at A$2 billion, and in 2023 the cost was raised to almost A$13 billion. [23] The project joins two mountain reservoirs with tunnels up to 27km long. [23] Water is pumped up to the higher one when power is cheap and let back down through turbines when power is needed. It will now be finished in 2029. [23]

   2017 estimate2 A$bn

   2023 estimate13 A$bn

   Now, top of range25 A$bn

   Why it matters — Once working it can produce 2,200 megawatts and store 350,000 megawatt-hours of power. [23] Taxpayers are expected to put in more money, and Australia's government plans to announce new oversight in the coming weeks. [23]

10. 11

    Australia's gas power falls to a 26-year low

    Gas power on Australia's main grid averaged 881 megawatts from July to September, the lowest for that quarter since 2000, the Australian Energy Market Operator said on Friday. [24] A surge in big batteries cut the need for gas. [24] Renewables supplied a record 44.3% of the grid's power, and coal's share slipped to 52.2%. [24]

    • Coal52.2 · 52%
    • Renewables44.3 · 44%
    • Gas and the rest3.5 · 4%

    Why it matters — Batteries are taking work from gas plants on a grid where coal still makes about half the power. [24] In Britain, the gas network operator expects gas plants to be needed more, not less, on dark, still winter days. [12]

11. 12

    Google pays homes to free up power for data centres

    Google and Voltus, a US firm that pays homes and businesses to use less power at busy times, are lining up about a gigawatt of that capacity in PJM, the biggest US power market. [25][26] It adds 1,070 megawatts to the 100 megawatts the two agreed in June. [26] The customers will cut their use or supply battery power at peak times, under promises that run to 2040. [25] Many small users acting together like this is called a virtual power plant. [25]

    Why it matters — PJM expects data centres and other big users to add 30 to 34 gigawatts of demand by the early 2030s. [25] Paying users to cut back needs no building work, and PJM has struggled to connect new power plants. [25]

12. 13

    China ties coal plants to new wind and solar

    China's National Energy Administration issued a notice backing projects that pair coal power plants with new wind and solar farms, the business outlet Yicai reports, according to Carbon Brief's daily digest. [8] It aims to cut carbon from coal power and to waste less wind and solar power. [8] The amount of new wind and solar is meant to match how well the upgraded coal units can turn up and down. [8] China's electricity use rose 1.2% from a year earlier in September. [8]

    Why it matters — Grids sometimes switch off working wind and solar farms because they cannot use the power at that moment, which is called curtailment. [8] The notice treats coal plants that can change their output more easily as the way to let more clean power in. [8]

13. 14

    Fuel prices speed up electric trucks in China

    Scania, the Swedish truck maker, will build battery trucks at its new factory in Rugao, China, as soon as it gets a licence. [27] Its chief executive, Christian Levin, expects electric trucks to be half of China's market by the start of 2027. [27] Sales of electric heavy trucks in China rose almost 80% in the first half of 2026, and are on pace for more than 30% of heavy trucks sold this year. [27] Electrek, a clean-transport news site, links the speed-up to record fuel prices from the war with Iran. [27]

    Why it matters — Levin said China has managed to expand charging and the power grid, which he called the biggest problem in many countries, Europe included. [27] The Rugao plant, Scania's first fully owned factory in China, can build diesel and battery trucks on the same lines. [27]

14. 15

    Home battery maker sonnen goes insolvent in Germany

    Sonnen, a German maker of home batteries, has filed for insolvency, the German business paper Handelsblatt reported. [28] About 400 staff in Wildpoldsried, Bavaria, were told on Thursday. [29] Shell, the oil company, sold sonnen this summer to Tiven, a family investment office, after years of looking for a buyer. [28] Many of its subsidiaries are expected to close or go through insolvency, and only one factory will keep running. [28]

    Why it matters — Sonnen says it will keep serving its more than 150,000 customers. [28] Its US arm reports the opposite: sales doubled and it expects to deliver more than 180 megawatt-hours of home batteries this year, much of it for virtual power plants. [29]

15. 16

    Iraq drops import taxes on solar

    Iraq's cabinet has removed customs duties on imported solar systems, the Iraqi News Agency reports. [30] The duty was as high as 33% until February, when it was cut to 5% on panels, cables, inverters and batteries. [30] The electricity ministry has also drafted 40 rules that would let people connect home solar to the national grid with smart meters. [30] Those rules still need the cabinet's approval. [30]

    Why it matters — It makes solar cheaper to buy in a country whose solar industry is just starting: Iraq's first panel production line opened in Karbala in July. [30] A 300-megawatt solar project is also being built there. [30]

16. 17

    Rwanda seeks builders for floating solar

    Rwanda's Energy Development Corporation has opened a tender for a 200-megawatt floating solar plant on Lake Sake, in Ngoma district, with an 800 megawatt-hour battery. [31] The winner will build and run it and sell the power to the state-owned Rwanda Energy Group under a long contract. [31] First bids are due on 12 November. [31] Rwanda has about 47.5 megawatts of solar working today, by one industry count. [31]

    Solar working in Rwanda now47.5 MW

    The Lake Sake plant200 MW

    Why it matters — The plant would be about four times all the solar Rwanda has now. [31] Africa has few floating solar plants, and the biggest planned is 600 megawatts on Lake Kariba, between Zimbabwe and Zambia. [31]

17. 18

    COP31 sponsor owns Turkey's biggest refiner

    Koc Holding, a sponsor of COP31, owns Tupras, Turkey's largest oil refiner, Climate Home News reports, according to Carbon Brief's digest. [8] COP31 is the UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, in November. [22] Tupras plans to keep its refineries running at full power, and both firms have already lowered their 2030 climate targets to levels they have nearly reached. [8] The choice has revived a long row over giving fossil fuel firms a role at climate summits. [8]

    Why it matters — COP31 is the yearly UN meeting where governments bargain over cutting the gases that warm the planet. [8] Climate Home says its sponsors should be checked for whether their climate promises are real. [8]

18. 19

    Kenya and donors fund $160m to protect nature

    Kenya's government and a group of donors signed off a $160 million programme to protect 173,000 square kilometres of nature, Reuters reports, according to Carbon Brief's digest. [8] Named Thamani Asili, Swahili for the value of nature, it covers wildlife areas from the Great Rift Valley to the Maasai Mara. [8] About $80 million from dozens of donors will be joined with government money over ten years. [8] The money is tied to Kenya's government making agreed changes to its policies. [8]

    Why it matters — It comes during COP17, the UN nature summit in Armenia, where nearly 200 countries must agree how to catch up on 2030 nature targets that are badly off track. [42]

19. 20

    Chinese carmakers race to charge in minutes

    Chery, a Chinese carmaker, announced a 1.44-megawatt charger that adds 500km of range in five minutes. [32] It fills a battery from 10% to 97% in 6 minutes 50 seconds, 23 seconds behind the record held by CATL, a Chinese battery maker. [32] BYD's luxury brand Denza opens orders on 26 October for an electric N8 SUV with a claimed range of 1,003km on China's official test. [33] BYD's charging takes it from 10% to 70% in five minutes. [33]

    Why it matters — Firms in China now compete over seconds of charging time, not minutes, Electrek reports. [32]

20. 21

    Volkswagen plans a 20,000-euro electric car

    Volkswagen will launch a smaller electric car in 2027, starting at about 20,000 euros. [34] Expected to be called the ID. Up, it is based on the ID. EVERY1 concept shown in March. [34] It will sit below the ID. Polo, whose basic version starts at 24,995 euros. [34] Thomas Schafer, head of the Volkswagen brand, called it the last piece of the puzzle. [34]

    Why it matters — The new small cars are Volkswagen's answer to Chinese carmakers such as BYD. [34] Schafer said the brand aims to offer the widest choice of cars in the part of the market where most are sold. [34]

21. 22

    Kia bets on cheap EVs against China in Canada

    Canada agreed with China this year to let in up to 49,000 Chinese electric cars at a 6.1% tariff, a tax on imports. [35] Kia, the South Korean carmaker, says its EV3, at 39,744 Canadian dollars, was the cheapest electric car in Canada when it launched in August. [35] Elias El-Achhab, Kia Canada's chief operating officer, said he sees the deal as an opportunity for Kia, not a threat. [35] He says about 90% of people who buy an electric car stick with one. [35]

    Why it matters — Orders for the EV3 and EV5 are already backed up, Kia says. [35] Its bet is that features as well as price will win buyers when the Chinese cars arrive. [35]

22. 23

    Aiko turns an old solar factory to new cells

    Aiko Solar, a Chinese maker of solar cells, will convert its Tianjin factory from an older cell design called PERC to 6 gigawatts a year of its own back-contact cells. [36] In a back-contact cell all the metal wiring sits on the back, so more of the front catches light. [36] The upgrade will cost 1.15 billion yuan, about $172 million, and reuses the existing building. [36]

    Why it matters — Aiko says the switch follows where the solar industry is heading, towards cells that turn more sunlight into power. [36] Its filing says the money will come from its own funds, bank loans and partners in the industry. [36]

23. 24

    Solar tracker maker grows in Texas

    PV Hardware USA, which makes trackers that turn solar panels to follow the sun, is enlarging its Houston factory by about 3,180 square metres, or 42%. [37] It will make 35% more tracker parts already put together, moving work from building sites into the factory. [37] The company opened its first Houston plant in May 2024 with a $30 million investment, and added a second tracker factory in September 2025. [37]

    Why it matters — Its chief executive, Alfonso Queipo, said customers were asking the company to do more in the US. [37] Putting parts together indoors gives more control over quality than doing it in the open on a solar site, he said. [37]

24. 25

    Rivian's old batteries will store grid power

    Redwood Materials, a US battery recycler founded by JB Straubel, a Tesla co-founder, is widening its deal with Rivian, an electric carmaker. [38] Redwood will collect and recycle the battery scrap from Rivian's factory in Normal, Illinois. [38] Retired Rivian batteries will first store power for buildings and grids, and later about 99% of their nickel, cobalt, copper and lithium will be recovered. [38] Rivian signed up for 10 megawatt-hours of such storage in April. [38]

    Why it matters — Recycled scrap goes back into making batteries at a fraction of the cost of newly mined material, Electrek reports. [38] Straubel says each returned battery pack can also become storage for the grid. [38]

25. 26

    Seattle to add 200 street chargers

    Seattle plans up to 200 public chargers on its streets by 2030, and residents can now ask for one near their home. [39] More than half of Seattle's homes are flats or condos, says Seattle City Light, the city's power company. [39] The chargers add about 12 to 30 miles of range an hour. [39] At 21 cents a kilowatt-hour, 30 kilowatt-hours costs $6.30, enough for about 90 miles. [39]

    Why it matters — The city is putting them first in neighbourhoods with the fewest places to charge. [39] For people who park on the street, it saves a separate trip to a charging station. [39]

26. 27

    New Jersey may ease its e-bike law

    A new bill in New Jersey would drop licence, registration and insurance rules for slower electric bikes, with motors up to 750 watts and a top motor speed of 20mph. [40] The state brought in those rules in January after several crashes involving young riders, and they took full effect in July. [40] Riders, bike shops and campaign groups protested. [40] The bill, S4830, is sponsored by state senator Raj Mukherji. [40]

    Why it matters — E-bikes with a throttle are most of those sold in the state, and the bill would treat them like ordinary bicycles again. [40] Faster, more powerful e-bikes would keep the stricter rules. [40]

27. 28

    A fast chip to watch fusion fuel

    Brookhaven National Laboratory, a US government lab, on Monday showed a superconducting chip built to watch the plasma inside a fusion machine as it changes. [41] Plasma is the super-hot fuel, and when it misbehaves it can collapse suddenly and damage the machine. [41] Replaying data from the DIII-D fusion machine in San Diego at a million readings a second, the chip kept up. [41] It has not yet been connected to a working machine. [41]

    Why it matters — A fusion power plant would need to catch these collapses before they happen, and a researcher said that without that there can be no working machine. [41] The same researcher called the chip demonstration-stage. [41]