Extreme hydrometeorological events such as late autumn and winter storms are being increasingly observed in southern Europe andparticularly in the Alps, where they threaten environmental and socio-economic systems. An example is the 2018 Vaia (also known as Adrian)storm (Oct 28-Nov 04), which strongly affected Italy, Austria, France and Switzerland. This storm has been considered exceptional yet couldforeshadow multi-hazard phenomena whose frequency and intensity are likely to be influenced by climate change. In such conditions, currentlyavailable risk assessment and prevention tools may prove inadequate, particularly on a cross-border level and in vulnerable mountainousregions. Therefore, there is a need to provide decision makers and stakeholders with improved and harmonised tools and standardisedframeworks to conduct efficient (climate) risk assessments for cross-border areas. Current and future impacts need to be systematicallyinvestigated to adopt prevention and disaster risk reduction measures for the mitigation of inherent risks. The TRANS-ALP project has beenanalysing the occurrence of severe weather events that can be classified as extreme and their specific features in the cross-border areabetween Austria and Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol and Veneto). Our findings indicate a noticeable increase of extreme weatherconditions that can lead to adverse consequences, also from a systemic perspective, and a complex interplay of damaging factors and chainedimpacts that can extend for years after the occurrence of the generating events. The findings also highlight the importance of a comprehensivemulti-hazard and transdisciplinary approach to storm risk assessment within a framework harmonising Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) andClimate Change Adaptation (CCA) instances. In this contribution some of the results and insights of the project will be presented anddiscussed.
