July was the third hottest: expert warned that heat records have stopped, but not climate change
Kyiv • UNN
July 2024 was the third hottest month on record globally. The temperature was 0.27°C cooler than the record-breaking July 2023 and 0.23°C cooler than July 2024.
This July was the third hottest on record globally, according to the latest data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), UNN reports, citing Euronews.
Details
It was 0.27°C cooler than the hottest July in 2023 and 0.23°C cooler than July 2024, the second hottest. Last month, temperatures were also 1.25°C higher than the pre-industrial average from 1850 to 1900, and it was only the fourth month in the last 25 that did not reach the 1.5°C threshold.
Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S, noted that two years after the hottest July, the recent series of record global temperatures "has ended - for now."
"But that doesn't mean climate change has stopped," he added.
"We continued to see the effects of global warming, such as extreme heat and floods in July. If we don't quickly stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, we should expect not only new temperature records, but also a worsening of these effects - and we must prepare for this," he pointed out.
Regional records
July was the fourth hottest on record in Europe. However, it still had hotspots where countries faced record heat.
Fennoscandia, a geographical region that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, the Kola Peninsula, and Karelia, experienced the most pronounced above-average temperatures in Europe.
A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30°C for 13 days in July. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute reported that July was the third hottest month recorded in the country since 1901, with temperatures 2.8°C higher than the seasonal average. The two-week period between July 12 and 25 was the hottest on record in the country.
Finland experienced three consecutive weeks of heat with temperatures of 30°C, and scientists said it was the longest streak since observations began in 1961 and 50% longer than the previous record. Mika Rantanen, a climatologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, wrote in a social media post that it was a "truly unprecedented heatwave."
On July 25, Silopi in southeastern Turkey set a national temperature record of 50.5°C. The Ministry of Environment reported that 132 weather stations across the country registered record temperatures for the month, some of which were up to 12°C higher than seasonal averages.
In Spain, extreme heat in July led to 1060 heat-related deaths, a 57% increase compared to 2024.
Rains caused floods across Europe
In July, according to C3S, precipitation was higher than average in most of Central Europe, northern France, eastern Great Britain and southern Ireland, southern Scandinavia, regions of northeastern Europe, northern Italy and the northern Adriatic coast, northern Iceland, eastern Spain and western Russia.
Intense rains led to severe floods in southern France and Paris. Severe weather in Italy caused landslides and floods in Rome and the Piedmont region earlier in the month.
And in Spain, massive floods occurred after torrential rains hit Catalonia and northeastern Spain in mid-July. The national meteorological service AEMET reported that 10 centimeters of rain fell near Barcelona in a matter of hours.
Drier than average conditions, particularly in Greece, the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, and southern France, also brought their own problems.
Wildfire risk increases due to severe heat and dry conditions
Hot weather and dry conditions, following an unusually dry and warm spring, contributed to fires across southern Europe last month.
In late July, Spain was battling fires on several fronts. In Portugal, by July 15, over 3,000 fires had covered a total of 10,768 hectares – three times more than in the same period last year. On the Iberian Peninsula, a state of emergency was declared last weekend due to the increased risk of wildfires.
Greece and Turkey also battled large fires, which burned thousands of hectares of land.
Forest fires in Greece and Turkey continue, three more volunteers died28.07.25, 14:58 • 3493 views
According to the latest data from the European Forest Fire Information System, a total of 353,862 hectares of land have burned in the EU this year – more than double the amount for the same period last year.
Marine heatwaves
On average, sea temperatures in July were the third highest on record for the month, 0.12°C below the record set in 2023.
But the Norwegian Sea, parts of the North Sea, and the North Atlantic area west of France and the UK reached record high values in July.
The UK Met Office reported in early July that waters south of the country were experiencing a "significant marine heatwave." Sea surface temperatures were more typical of early August in the 1980s and 90s.
The country's maritime authority reported that between June 28 and July 9, Portugal's southern Algarve region also experienced a marine heatwave. Temperatures were "significantly higher" than the average for the last 20 years, reaching 25.1°C.