Abstract Climate has an important effect on plant disease and the probability of plant pathogen invasions, through effects on hosts and pathogen vectors as well as on the pathogens themselves. Aerially dispersed pathogens are an important group of plant pathogens, and their dispersal and invasion may be modified by changes in wind patterns. Pathogens vectored by arthropods may be affected by weather impacts on their vectors, often through the filter of vector behaviour. Soilborne pathogens have more challenges to rapid invasion, but human transport can introduce them quickly into novel settings. For pathogens, variability within a species may be of great importance, and many important pathogen invasions are invasions of new genotypes of ubiquitous pathogen species. The connectivity of a landscape for pathogen movement is determined by the spatial distribution of host, pathogen and environmental conditions, and connectivity may also be affected by climate change. Therefore, when there is a new invasion, it is often challenging to evaluate which of these factors was limiting prior to invasion. Most economically important pathogen invasions are influenced strongly by human decision making. Adaptation strategies are needed both to address increased disease risk and to manage pathogen species and important subpopulations before they are introduced and established.