Romania is experiencing a sharp rise in extreme weather events, with flood alerts nearly doubling this year compared to 2019, according to an analysis of official RO-ALERT data by Greenpeace Romania.

The environmental group’s review, covering the period from January 2019 to July 31, 2025, shows a continuing upward trend in storms, floods, and tornadoes. 

Flood alerts rose from 77 in 2019 to 149 in 2025, an increase of 93.5%, while storm alerts climbed 12.4% over the same period. In the first seven months of 2025 alone, authorities issued three tornado alerts, compared with five over the entire period from 2019 to 2024.

“Climate change is amplifying the intensity of extreme weather events,” said Bogdan Antonescu, a physicist specialising in atmospheric physics, quoted in Greenpeace’s press release. “A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and increases the energy that fuels storms. If we do not invest now in adaptation — from infrastructure modernisation to impact-based warnings — the economic and social costs will continue to increase. The time to act is not in 10 years, but now.”

RO-ALERT data indicate that 2025 could see a total of 1,105 alerts by year-end, approaching the record 1,159 alerts registered in 2023. Storms remain the most common phenomenon, accounting for 4,004 alerts over the analysed period, followed by floods with 762. Bacău, Tulcea, Maramureș, and Alba were the counties most frequently affected, while Teleorman, Giurgiu, Olt, and Călărași reported the fewest.

Harghita county led in 2025, recording 26 alerts by the end of July, approximately one every eight days.

Greenpeace Romania urged authorities to take urgent measures to mitigate the climate impact of fossil fuels, calling for a rapid transition to locally produced renewable energy and the adoption of nature-based adaptation strategies such as wetland restoration, reforestation, riverbank protection, and floodplain restoration.

The group highlighted the challenges of raising public awareness, noting that climate change often manifests gradually through hotter summers, shorter winters, and increasingly frequent extreme weather. Greenpeace warned that gradual changes could lead to societal complacency, using the “boiling frog effect” as a metaphor for the risk of underestimating incremental threats.

The analysis is based on RO-ALERT data transmitted by authorities and excludes national-level alerts, focusing on localised extreme weather phenomena tracked by county emergency services.