Tourism climate conditions in the Western Sudetes (Poland) in relation to UTCI

Abstract

The region of Western Sudetes is one of the most popular tourist areas in Poland. Simultaneously, it is also characterized by significant variability in terms of climate conditions. Therefore, the main goal of the analysis was to evaluate variability in heat stress frequency according to UTCI and examine how it corresponds to the results of the tourism-climate index (WSI). The results for both indices, for 1971-2015 data, showed significant differences between the summit and the lower located mountain zones. Analysis on multiannual trends of UTCI classes showed significant increase in the frequency of thermoneutral conditions and decreasing tendency for cold stress categories.