Imagine spending nearly 17 hours travelling to Europe, only to arrive with itchy bites and discover that the aircraft you were supposed to take home has been taken out of service. That was the situation facing passengers on a Qantas flight from Perth to Rome after bedbugs were reportedly found in the economy cabin, triggering a deep clean and the cancellation of the return service.

The incident involved Qantas flight QF5, which arrived at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on Friday, October 9. Passengers reportedly complained of bites during the journey, with bedbugs discovered in a small number of economy-class seats on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Passengers left facing cancelled return flights

Some passengers were given antihistamines to relieve the itching, but reports said supplies eventually ran out. The aircraft was subsequently withdrawn from service while cleaning and maintenance work was arranged.

For those expecting to fly back to Australia the following day, the discovery meant an unexpected change of plans. The aircraft’s scheduled return service on Saturday, October 1, was cancelled to allow a deep clean. Qantas arranged hotel accommodation and alternative flights for affected passengers, offering rebooking within 48 hours of their original departure time.

How did bedbugs get onto the aircraft?

The source of the infestation has not been confirmed. However, experts say passengers can unknowingly carry bedbugs between locations in their luggage and clothing. The insects are adept at hiding in small spaces, including suitcase seams, upholstered furniture and the folds of fabric. They cannot fly or jump, so they spread by hitching a ride on belongings. A passenger who stays in an infested hotel could unknowingly bring them to the airport and onto a plane.

Their bites can leave red, itchy marks, although reactions vary from person to person. Some people develop noticeable swelling, while others show little visible reaction. Bedbugs are not generally considered to transmit disease to humans, but their bites can cause significant discomfort. Finding insects in a handful of seats does not necessarily mean an entire cabin is infested. However, even a small number can be difficult to locate because they remain hidden in narrow gaps and folds of material.

Why getting rid of them is difficult

Regular cabin cleaning does not guarantee that every insect will be removed. Bedbugs can hide deep inside seat upholstery and other crevices, where routine cleaning may not reach them. Eggs can also remain concealed, creating the risk of the infestation returning if treatment is incomplete.

Bedbug specialist Stephen Doggett told ABC News that infestations on aircraft have been documented, although they are uncommon. He explained that eliminating the insects can be challenging because they hide effectively and have developed resistance to some insecticides.

Treatment may involve specialist inspections, vacuuming, steam and suitable insecticides. The methods used must be appropriate for aircraft interiors, limiting the products and treatments available. Qantas has said its aircraft cabins undergo regular cleaning and receive preventive disinfectant treatment every 50 days. However, routine cleaning is not the same as a targeted bedbug treatment, particularly when insects are concealed inside seats.

What should passengers look out for?

Anyone who suspects bedbugs on a flight can inspect the seat seams and surrounding upholstery for insects or small dark marks. Photographing anything suspicious and reporting it to cabin crew gives the airline an opportunity to investigate. Bedbugs can also be carried home in luggage, so travellers concerned about exposure should inspect their belongings rather than immediately unpacking everything onto beds or upholstered furniture.

The origin of the insects found on the Qantas flight remains unknown, and there is no confirmed explanation of how they entered the aircraft or how long they had been there. For passengers, the consequences went beyond uncomfortable bites during a long-haul journey. The infestation disrupted return travel and required the aircraft to be removed from service while the airline dealt with the problem.

September is the month when autumn begins, when the summer haze of the preceding months gradually melts away; but across much of Western Europe, the arrival of autumn brought little relief from the heat. September 2026 has been officially classified as the joint hottest September in the annals of the climate of Europe, on a level with the hottest in the year 2023.

Spain was one of the countries where high temperatures had settled in recent weeks, and after the hottest summer on record, this was another unusually warm month.

In the West, as per the new figures released Monday, October 12, by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the temperature average for the month of September was 2.51 degrees higher than average, matching the record set in 2023.

The new study also showed that September, 2026, was the second warmest September ever on record and sea temperatures set a new high for that month.

For the people living in Spain these figures indicate the persistence of the heat, which has been unusually continuous beyond the usual period of the summer season.

Western Europe records its joint-hottest September on record

The last Copernicus climate bulletin reports that Western Europe experienced the joint-warmest September in the ERA5 climate data set, equalling the record set in 2023. Compared with the usual mean temperature for this period of the year, it was 2.51 degrees centigrade higher in the region, a significant deviation from the normal start of the meteorological autumn.

However, the picture across Europe was not entirely uniform.

In terms of the whole continent, September 2026 ranks as the third hottest September on record. The average temperature in Europe was 16.26°C, which is 1.54°C higher than the 1991-2020 average.

This distinction is very important. Though Western Europe matched its previous September record, that did not mean that every single country had its hottest September.

The global figures were equally striking. In September, according to Copernicus, the average world surface temperature was 16.27 ° C, and therefore was the second warmest September ever recorded.

It was 0.82°C above the average September temperature of 1991-2020, and 0.11°C below the September of 2023, which remains the hottest on record for September. As compared with the calculated mean average temperature of 1850 to 1900, September 2026 was 1.63° warmer.

It was also the second consecutive month in which the global temperature exceeded the threshold of 1.5 ° C above the level of the pre-industrial period.

This does not mean that the goal set by the Paris Agreement on limiting the rise in global temperature to an increase of 1.5°C for the long term has been permanently overshot, because the target relates to the average temperature of a much longer period and not to a month.

Nevertheless, the latest measurements highlight the continuing rise in global temperatures.

Spain’s record-breaking summer continued into September

For Spain, September’s exceptional European temperatures followed an already extraordinary summer.

According to the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the summer of 2026 was the hottest in the country’s official temperature record, which goes back to 1961.

Across mainland Spain, the average temperature in June to August was 24.5°C, a whole 2.4°C above the mean for the period of 1991–2020.

It also exceeded the previous record, set in 2025, by 0.3°C. But what made that summer special was not so much the high temperatures, as the length of time these extreme conditions were in existence.

During the summer, AEMET recorded three heatwaves across mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, including one lasting 23 days in July and another lasting 24 days between July and August, an exceptional record.

The previous record was 41 days in 2022. And the heat did not disappear when September arrived.

AEMET had noticed another hot spell between September 2 and 7, affecting 16 provinces over a period of six days, according to a provisional report of September 9.

It was the fifth heat wave recorded in the history of the observatory after those in September 1987, 1988, 2006, and 2016.

A summary of the season published on September 21 by AEMET described a summer which had not been restricted to the usual three months, with unusually high temperatures in late May and early September. The meteorological agency also predicted an autumn warmer than usual throughout Spain, with a probability of sixty to seventy percent.

However, it is important to distinguish between the exceptional heat in Spain and the greater European record.

Copernicus has confirmed a joint September temperature record for Western Europe, not a new national September record for Spain.

The unprecedented summer weather combined with the abnormal heat of September demonstrates the disturbance of the customary transition from summer to autumn.

Record ocean temperatures add to concerns about Europe’s changing climate

In the latest report on the Copernicus programme, we can also see a new important development – the unusually high temperatures in the seas.

In September of that year, the mean temperature of the surface of the ocean between latitudes 60° south and 60° north had attained the highest figure ever recorded for that month.

A new world record has been established. It comes at a time when the El Niño phenomenon in the tropical Pacific is gaining strength and is influencing both world weather and temperatures.

The warmer waters are the most important, since they contain vast masses of heat and play the principal part in the regulation of the earth’s temperature.

They also contribute to raising the temperature of the atmosphere, and thus to increasing the quantity of water which falls as rain under favorable atmospheric conditions.

For Spain and other Mediterranean countries, the temperature of the seas is an important factor to study, especially during the autumn months, when atmospheric disturbances may produce heavy rainfall.

However, a record of the whole ocean does not necessarily imply that in September every part of the Mediterranean Sea enjoyed the highest temperature ever. It does not mean that we can attribute to warmer waters a particular storm or a flood that is observed without further scientific analysis.

The general trend still raises questions about how residents, businesses, and tourists will cope with longer spells of heat.

For people living in Spain, prolonged periods of unusually high temperatures can affect daily routines, outdoor work, energy consumption and the comfort of homes that are not designed to cope with persistent heat.

The tourism industry may also see changes in seasonal travel patterns, as warmer conditions extend beyond the traditional summer months. However, this does not necessarily mean that Spain’s tourist season will become longer or that every region will benefit equally.

These latest figures are not a forecast for the coming weeks, nor do they suggest that Spain will experience continuously warm weather throughout autumn.

What they do show is how exceptional 2026 has already been. Western Europe has matched its September temperature record, Spain has experienced its hottest summer on record, and global sea surface temperatures have reached a new high for September.

Together, these findings highlight how unusually high temperatures can extend beyond the peak summer months, raising questions about how Spain will adapt to increasingly prolonged periods of heat.

Drivers heading to Western Beach in Gibraltar could soon have to pay to park, with vehicles carrying Gibraltar number plates set to be exempt from the planned charges. The new system is expected to come into force in 2027, meaning motorists arriving in cars registered outside the Rock could face an additional cost when visiting the beach.

The government has not yet confirmed how much parking will cost or when the charges will begin. The plan was revealed by Transport Minister John Cortes in Parliament, following a question from opposition MP Giovanni Origo about parking arrangements at Western Beach.

Foreign-registered cars to pay for parking

Under the proposed scheme, parking at Western Beach will operate on a pay-and-display basis, with vehicles registered in Gibraltar exempt from payment. That means the distinction will be based on the vehicle’s registration plate rather than simply where its driver lives. A resident driving a car registered outside Gibraltar could therefore be affected, while a Gibraltar-registered vehicle would qualify for the exemption.

The government has yet to publish the full details of the scheme, including the tariff, operating hours and the number of parking spaces that will be covered. For motorists who regularly cross the border from Spain to spend time at Western Beach, the change could make an otherwise straightforward visit more expensive. However, until the charges are confirmed, drivers cannot yet calculate what the new arrangements will mean for their regular trips.

Why is Gibraltar introducing the charges?

The proposal comes amid concerns about parking availability around Western Beach, where demand for spaces can create difficulties for people visiting the area. Western Beach lies on Gibraltar’s western coast, close to the frontier with Spain. Its location makes it accessible to people travelling from both sides of the border, putting pressure on the limited parking available nearby. The planned charges would introduce a different arrangement for motorists depending on whether their vehicles are registered in Gibraltar or elsewhere.

The government has not yet provided a detailed explanation of how the money raised will be used or whether the scheme is intended primarily to manage demand, generate revenue or achieve both aims. Those details will be important for drivers trying to understand the reasoning behind the new rules, particularly if the charges apply to visitors who already contribute to the local economy when they come to Gibraltar.

Questions remain over the new parking rules

Although the government has indicated that the system is planned for 2027, several practical questions remain unanswered. The first is the price. Without a published tariff, it is not yet clear whether motorists will face a small fee for a short visit or a more substantial charge for spending several hours at the beach.

The government has also yet to clarify whether there will be different rates for different lengths of stay, how payment will be made or whether any additional exemptions will apply. For drivers using Western Beach regularly, the availability of alternative parking will also be a consideration. If nearby spaces are already in short supply, motorists may have limited options if they wish to avoid the new charges. 

What the new rules mean for cross-border drivers

The announcement also raises questions for people who own vehicles registered in Spain or elsewhere but live or work in Gibraltar. Under the arrangement described so far, it is the registration of the vehicle, rather than the nationality or residence of the driver, that determines whether payment is required. Until the government publishes the full rules, motorists should not assume that any exemptions beyond those for Gibraltar-registered vehicles will be available.

For now, the change remains a plan for 2027 rather than a charge drivers must pay immediately. The next step will be for the Gibraltar Government to confirm the implementation date and publish the practical details, including prices and payment arrangements. For anyone who regularly uses Western Beach, those details will determine how much the new parking system affects their visits.