Experts from the British Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who study global warming, have reached this conclusion. According to them, chikungunya was previously распространена only in hot countries because it is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which thrive in warm climates, DW reports. These mosquitoes are now being found not only in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, but increasingly in Europe as well.

Chikungunya causes severe malaise and debilitating joint pain, and can be fatal for children and older adults. About 40% of those infected continue to suffer from arthritis even five years after the illness. In recent years, a small number of chikungunya cases have been recorded in 10 European countries. In 2025, France and Italy experienced major outbreaks involving hundreds of cases. In the United Kingdom and Germany, mosquitoes carrying the virus have been detected, although no outbreaks have yet occurred, The Guardian notes.

Under current climate conditions, chikungunya transmission by mosquitoes could occur for more than six months a year in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece, and for three to five months annually in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and about a dozen other European countries, scientists warned.