The year began with high hopes as the COVID-19 vaccination drive got under way across Europe. 

European economies looked forward to a return to normality but a combination of new variants and supply chain issues led to a series of false starts for European economies. This was also the year the COP26 climate summit was held in Glasgow, Scotland and Europe began to experience first hand the consequences of global warming as heatwaves and floods swept across the continent. 

There were also many moments of inspiration and acts of kindness in 2021 as people yearned for a return to normality.

The race to vaccinate 

The rush to vaccinate populations in Europe in a post-Brexit world led to conflict as the UK was able to approve jabs and begin its vaccination drive earlier than its former EU partners. 

European Union leaders then vowed to increase production of vaccines across the continent, following a slow start to the bloc's inoculation program. The EU briefly became embroiled in a row with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca after accusing the company of failing to deliver sufficient doses of its vaccine to member states. Fears of side effects from vaccines also hampered EU efforts but by June hundreds of millions of vaccines had been administered in countries across Europe and the world.

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The G7 summit

As Europe began to relax its COVID-19 restrictions, word leaders came to Cornwall in the UK for the G7 Summit. 

The recovery plan from the COVID-19 pandemic led the agreements, as many expected, with a promise to "get ... as many safe vaccines to as many people as possible, as fast as possible." This resulted in a pledge to donate a billion vaccine doses to poorer countries. 

Global economic recovery was also high on the G7 list, with a "freer, fairer trade" system suggested – along with the headline announcement earlier in the week on a new global corporate tax agreement.

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A new kind of space race

On July 11, Richard Branson, best known for being the founder of the Virgin group, took off for space with five fellow travelers, from a base called Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert. The spacecraft, called Spaceflight Unity 22, marked the company's 22nd test flight of its SpaceShipTwo system, and its fourth crewed mission beyond Earth's atmosphere.

"As a child, I wanted to go to space," Branson said before the launch. "When that did not look likely for my generation, I registered the name Virgin Galactic with the notion of creating a company that could make it happen," he added.

Branson, who is 71 next week, successfully beat rival entrepreneurs and direct rivals Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk into space. Bezos, the founder of retail company Amazon, was onboard his Blue Origin spacecraft when it went into orbit on July 20. Branson, insisted he and Bezos are friendly rivals and not engaged in a personal contest to beat one another into space. 

All three entrepreneurs are competing in the emerging, yet unique, space tourism business and Branson hoped that by him pipping the others to space, he can gain an advantage.

British businessman Richard Branson successfully beats rivals in race to space

Europe is confronted by the consequences of climate change 

In Bavaria, Germany catastrophic floods killed 187 people and reduced some towns in western Germany to rubble. 

Meanwhile, temperatures across Southern Europe hit new highs. The region, stretching to Southern Italy, was hit by a blistering heatwave, aptly named "Lucifer." Authorities put 17 cities on red alert in early August, including the capital Rome and Sicily, where temperatures hit 48.8 degrees Celsius - the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe. 

As Europe continues to get warmer, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent – prompting many to look to COP26 hosted in Glasgow, Scotland in November for rapid and effective action to halt rising global temperatures.

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The Taliban force a rushed evacuation of Afghanistan 

September 11, 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, an atrocity which led directly to the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Two decades on, in late August 2021, the Taliban was back in control of the country. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which operated in Afghanistan under a UN mandate, had troops from 51 countries. At its height there were 130,000 soldiers deployed.

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Countries unite to halt climate change at COP 26

After two weeks of contentious talks, the COP 26 Climate Summit concluded with a new global pact to tackle climate change. It's the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce fossil fuels. But the compromise angered critics who said the agreement is far from enough to limit Earth's warming to 1.5 Celsius degrees above pre-industrial levels.

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UK tennis put back on the map by young star

Emma Raducanu became the first female UK tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title in 44 years. The 18-year-old won the U.S. Open without losing a set but COVID-19 meant her parents were not able to be with her in New York to see her win or celebrate.

The migrant crisis 

It's a motivation that few in Europe can truly fathom. To pay thousands of dollars, to take your family and children through the world's busiest shipping lanes to find sanctuary in a country that doesn't want you. 

Both France and Britain are focussed on the smuggling gangs. Multi-million-dollar criminal networks that promise jobs and prospects in the UK as long as those desperate to reach the country can pay. The gangs operate throughout Europe, and France has called on Belgium and Germany to also get involved. The UK is considering legal migrant routes, with processing centers located abroad but for now the dangers of the Channel remain the only viable option for these desperate families.

A new frontier for the migrant crisis opened up in 2021 on the Belarus border. Warsaw and its European Union allies said the migrants massed at Poland's border, mainly from Western Asia and the Middle East, were being used as weapons by Belarus's leader Alexander Lukashenko in response to economic sanctions. Minsk denied the accusations and said Poland was failing in its humanitarian duty by pushing the men, women and children back across the border.

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It wasn't all bad

There were also many acts of human kindness, invention and inspiration throughout 2021. 

We met people who had dedicated their time and effort to help their environment and we saw many animals born in Europe's zoos. One story captured hearts in France – two giant panda cubs were given their official names in a celebrity naming event. France's World Cup-winning footballer Kylian Mbappe and China's Olympic diving gold medallist Zhang Jiaqi were presented as the godparents of the young bears at a zoo in central France.

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Giant panda cubs in France get celebrity godparents Mbappe and Zhang Jiaqi