Western Europe recorded the hottest June and July since records began, with an average temperature of 21.62 degrees Celsius, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Monday, UNN reports, citing dpa.
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This figure is 2.79 degrees higher than the average June temperature for 1991–2020.
The program, based in the German city of Bonn, noted a marked temperature gradient from Western Europe to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, where conditions were significantly cooler.
For Europe as a whole, last month ranked only 11th among the hottest Julys on record, with an average temperature of 20.49 degrees.
Globally, it was the second-hottest July on record, tied with 2024, at around 16.9 degrees, which is 1.47 degrees above the pre-industrial average for July. The record remains July 2023, when 16.95 degrees was recorded.
According to the Copernicus program, exceptionally prolonged heatwaves have been observed in Western Europe since the end of spring, with four unusual heatwaves recorded since May. The program's records date back to 1950, although some earlier data are also available.
Heat and drought reinforce each other
As in June and part of May, conditions in July were drier than average in many regions of Europe. This particularly affected parts of the Iberian Peninsula, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and the United Kingdom, according to the Copernicus program. Soil moisture in Western Europe in July was significantly lower than during the most recent drought-affected July of 2022.
"When soils dry out, they lose their ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to build up more quickly," said Samantha Burgess, Copernicus's strategic climate lead. "This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying extreme heat, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing each other," she said.
Record ocean temperatures
According to Copernicus, river levels were significantly below long-term averages across much of the affected drought-stricken regions, with the Seine, Rhine and Danube suffering the most.
The world's oceans also warmed to record levels. The average global sea-surface temperature in July was the highest on record for the month since records began, reaching 20.96 degrees. The previous record of 20.89 degrees was set in July 2023. The temperatures refer to seas outside the polar regions.
July this year was the warmest on record for the world's seas10.08.26, 10:58
Copernicus pointed to the current high temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean as a result of the El Niño climate phenomenon, which is likely to intensify further in the coming months.
Along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, water temperatures reached record highs, accompanied by intense marine heatwaves.