New UrbanAIR research published in PLOS Climate reveals that official county-level heat warnings missed 24 high-stress urban days in a single summer—and shows how AI-driven microclimate modelling can fix it. The Problem: One Warning Doesn't Fit All As climate change increases the frequency, duration, and intensity of heatwaves across Europe, cities face an escalating public health crisis. Urban heat is particularly dangerous because cities are complex 3D environments: concret

Digital tools are becoming an increasingly important part of how cities understand, plan for and respond to climate risks. Urban digital twins, climate services, geospatial analytics and AI-supported modelling can help cities test scenarios, visualize complex data and make better-informed decisions on issues such as extreme heat, air pollution, flooding and wider climate resilience. Yet one message is becoming increasingly clear: digital tools only become useful when they ar

Data assimilation (DA)—the science of combining sparse observational data with advanced numerical models to produce more accurate estimates—is at the very core of what we do at UrbanAIR. By integrating physical models with real-time data, our project builds high-fidelity digital twins for urban air quality and heat mitigation as part of the European Union's Destination Earth initiative. However, urban-scale atmospheric modelling deals with immense high-dimensional states, cha

The fifth Destination Earth (DestinE) User eXchange took place on 9 – 10 June 2026 in Brussels and online, and the UrbanAIR representatives were there to share the advnacements of their work and our project, learn more about the latest updates on the key elements of DestinE – the Digital Twins, Digital Twin Engine, AI models and solutions, Data Lake, DestinE platform and its services – and exchange experiences how they are used in practice. The event programme focuses on real

Empowering cities with digital tools: roadmaps for accelerating climate resilience and risk-informed planning Are you a city representative working on climate adaptation, air quality, or urban planning? Would you like to explore how data-driven insights from digital tools can support your local strategies? UrbanAIR invites you to join the workshop Empowering cities with digital tools: roadmaps for accelerating climate resilience and risk-informed planning. The workshop is par

This article features the work of early-career researcher Abhilash Menon at the SMHI, contributing to the European UrbanAIR project. The 6th ACCORD All Staff Workshop (ASW) in Marrakesh (13-17 April, 2026), provided a vibrant stage for the latest updates from UrbanAIR, our pioneering Horizon Europe project dedicated to bridging the gap between large-scale climate models and the hyper-local realities of city life. Bringing together experts from SMHI, Météo-France, KNMI, and

UrbanAIR will be officially represented at the upcoming FOCAL European Clustering Event, taking place in Zaragoza, Spain, from May 6th to 8th, 2026. This event marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to build synergies with "sister projects" across Europe. Representing UrbanAIR will be Sam Pickard from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) , who will join other leading experts to discuss how digital innovation can drive climate-resilient decision- making. Col

We are officially in the final countdown to EGU 2026 (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), which starts in Vienna on May 3rd. We are excited to announce that UrbanAIR will be represented by a formidable contingent of researchers from our project partners. About EGU 2026 The EGU General Assembly 2026 is one of the premier annual events for geosciences worldwide, attracting thousands of scientists from across Europe and the globe. This year, it takes place in Vienn