Initiated by the German research project ClimXtreme (https://climxtreme.net/index.php), but open to all relevant submissions, the objective of the inter-journal special issue "Past and future European atmospheric extreme events under climate change" is to compile research results and recent advances in research exploring if and how extreme weather events have changed in the past, and what is to be expected under future climate scenarios. The time span covers the past and present centuries. Foci are physical mechanisms, statistical assessments, and impact-prone processes. Research on physical mechanisms addresses understanding the relationship between the extreme events' occurrence and severity and their spatial and temporal environment, exploring how climate change influences their generation processes in the past and a prospective future. Statistical approaches related to data science make use of large heterogeneous observational and model output data, of both the past and future, or advanced statistical methods, such as attribution research. Impact-related research investigates factors modifying the relation of the extreme meteorological conditions and the outcome in terms of damage, as pre-conditioning mechanisms can change the resilience of society and ecosystems against extremes. Compound meteorological events can lead to damage with a combination of relatively weak extremes. The regional focus is on continental Europe and its marginal seas, including the Atlantic and Arctic regions as important interacting parts of the climate system. Authors are advised to choose the most appropriate journal for their papers, which in this inter-journal special issue are Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS), Advances in Statistical Climatology, Meteorology and Oceanography (ASCMO), and Weather and Climate Dynamics (WCD).