Europe's summer of sweltering discontent has workers sweating, wildfires raging, and infrastructure tapping out - all while economists sharpen their pencils to count the cost. The Dutch bank Triodos estimates a whopping €180bn could be vaporized from EU GDP, and the UK's green thinktank Verdant has already clocked a £4.4bn hit by the end of July. Because nothing says 'productive economy' like a continent-wide sauna.

Research shows productivity nosedives past 30C, and Triodos crunched the numbers country by country, factoring in unusually hot days. But each economy has its own special way of suffering.

France is feeling the heat - literally - with nuclear plants forced offline when river temperatures soar. Over two-thirds of France's electricity is nuclear, and when rivers get too toasty, plants can't discharge heat and must shut down. On a recent Friday, up to 15% of the nuclear estate was expected to be idle. Triodos thinks France could lose 1.4 percentage points off GDP, pushing it into reverse. That's not helping Paris's fiscal headaches, with borrowing costs at a 15-year high amid political squabbles over tax and spending.

Meanwhile, Germany's Rhine River has dropped so low it's revealed Nazi skeletons and an unexploded WWII bomb - because why not add historical drama to climate chaos? More critically, the Rhine is a freight lifeline, carrying coal, oil, gas, and refined products. At Kaub, water levels have fallen below critical, forcing barges to lighten loads and traffic to nearly halt. The chemical industry's Wolfgang Grosse Entrup told Reuters that 'alarm bells are ringing loudly' as supply chains strain. Germany's already battling Chinese competition, but Triodos expects the GDP hit to be under a percentage point, thanks to fewer hot days and more AC.

Spain has been battered by wildfires, with nearly 275,000 hectares scorched, per Copernicus. Surprisingly, Oxford Economics says the economic damage is minor - tourists just spend elsewhere. Credit card data show no big drop in non-resident spending, and residents' spending bounced back after evacuations. Still, with 47 excessively hot days expected, Spanish workers are feeling it. Triodos predicts a nearly 1 percentage point knock off the 2.8% growth forecast.

Italy, leaning heavily on tourism and agriculture, looks exposed. Coldiretti claims climate impacts have cost tomato, olive oil, and wine producers €20bn over four years - 12.5% of the sector's output. With more hotel beds than any EU country, Italy could lose tourists to cooler climes. Triodos expects a 1.1 percentage point GDP hit, compounding issues like an ageing population and high public debt. Research from CMCC suggests investors might demand higher interest rates on Italian debt as climate risks grow.

Poland, oddly, has had only a few extra hot days. It's not unscathed - the Vistula's low levels forced power plant shutdowns, and the grid operator invoked emergency powers, with PM Donald Tusk calling it 'a very difficult period.' But Triodos sees Poland growing at 2.9% this year, barely changed from spring forecasts. Some economies just dodge the heat bullet.