(LONDON) — One of the most brutal heat waves to impact Europe in the last 50 years broke temperature records in multiple countries, according to Copernicus, Europe’s climate change service.
Western Europe, the region most affected by the heat wave during the second half of June, experienced its warmest June on record, the agency said.
The average land temperature in Europe in June 2026 was the second-highest on record, at 19.14 degrees Celsius, or 66.45 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Copernicus. This marks 1.78 degrees Celsius, or 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 1991 to 2020 average for the month.
Rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures “reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat” — resulting in increasingly intense heatwaves, a persistently warm ocean and growing risks for people and ecosystems, Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said in a statement.
“June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing,” Burgess said. “Western Europe recorded its warmest June on record, and continued record warmth in the global ocean.”
Many June and some all-time records for daily maximum temperature were broken in several countries, according to Copernicus.
Weather officials in the United Kingdom said temperatures on June 24 rose in some areas to 35.7 degrees Celsius, or about 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit, topping a June 1976 record of 35.6 C.
In France, the country’s national heat index — a daily average — hit 30 degrees Celsius, or about 86 degrees Fahrenheit, on June 24 — the highest-ever temperature recorded, according to weather officials at Meteo-France, the national weather service. High temperatures in Paris were in the triple digits in the days after.
The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower closed early several days in a row as a result of the high temperatures.
The high temperatures also impacted cities like Madrid and Rome, which hit the high 90s during the last week of June.
Reuters reported there were more than 5,000 excess deaths in Germany alone — mostly residents 75 and older — and another 4,700 deaths in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands between June 20 and 28.
“Heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ – and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an X post.
Overall, the planet experienced its second-warmest June globally, according to Copernicus.
In addition, much of Western Europe, including Italy, large parts of central and eastern Europe and the southern U.K., experienced drier-than-average conditions, associated with persistent high-pressure and heatwave conditions, according to Copernicus.
River flow was also below average across Europe, consistent with the widespread dry conditions, according to Copernicus. Large parts of France, much of central and eastern Europe and parts of northeastern Europe were especially impacted.
Globally, June 2026 was the second-warmest on record, with an average surface air temperature of 16.5 degrees Celsius, about 61.8 degrees Fahrenheit — about .56 degrees Celsius, or about 1 degree Fahrenheit — above the June average for 1991 to 2020.
Sea surface temperature at extrapolar oceans, or oceans outside the Arctic and Antarctic, was the highest on record for June at 20.86 degrees Celsius, or 69.5 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Copernicus.
Surface sea temperatures also remain “exceptionally high” across a large portion of the tropical Pacific, where El Nino conditions are present and forecast to strengthen in the coming months, the agency said.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
