Europe is experiencing its highest number of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks on record, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Wednesday. The agency reported 27 chikungunya outbreaks so far this year and warned that longer, more intense transmission seasons are becoming the continent’s “new normal.” The Aedes albopictus mosquito, the main vector, is now established in 16 European countries across 369 regions—more than triple its geographic footprint of a decade ago. The surge is most visible in southern Europe but is expanding north. France confirmed the first locally acquired chikungunya infection in its Alsace region, an unprecedented latitude for the virus. West Nile virus infections have also reached a three-year high, with eight countries logging 335 locally acquired cases and 19 deaths as of 13 August; Italy alone accounts for 274 infections. ECDC Director Pamela Rendi-Wagner said rising temperatures, longer summers, milder winters and shifting rainfall patterns linked to climate change are creating favourable conditions for mosquitoes to thrive. The agency urged governments to strengthen surveillance, coordinate vector-control programmes and advise residents to use repellents, wear long sleeves and install window screens and bed nets to curb further spread.