Western Europe recorded its hottest June and July on record
Western Europe recorded its hottest June and July on record this summer. The average temperature in the region over the two months was 21.62°C—2.79°C above normal and higher than the previous record set in 2022, Al Jazeera English reports, citing the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
C3S noted that the record-breaking figure reflects the exceptional persistence of the heat throughout the summer. According to Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, July 2026 marked the third consecutive month of exceptional heat in Western Europe.
The monitor also recorded that soil moisture was significantly lower than in July 2022, when the region experienced a severe drought. Prolonged high-pressure systems trapped heat over Western Europe, while drying soils weakened their ability to naturally cool the surface, Burgess explained.
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Water levels in the Seine, Rhine, and Danube fell to exceptionally low levels. This affected water supply and irrigation and forced Hungary and Slovenia to reduce the output of their respective nuclear power plants.
France and Spain also recorded record-breaking drought conditions, which contributed to large-scale wildfires. In late July, a fire in the Gironde department in southwestern France burned nearly 42,000 hectares and led to the evacuation of more than 220,000 people. In the Spanish province of Ávila, near Madrid, the fire burned nearly 44,000 hectares.
Separately, the C3S reported that in July, the highest-ever average sea surface temperature—20.96°C—was recorded outside the polar regions. The previous record, set in 2023, was 20.89°C.
