Western Europe has experienced the start of its hottest summer on record, with a new June-July temperature record set amid repeated heatwaves, widespread drought and major wildfires, conditions intensified by climate change.
At the same time, sea surface temperatures across the world's oceans reached unprecedented levels in July 2026 compared with any previous July, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
“We have never experienced a climate like this in our lifetimes, and probably not since the beginning of civilisation,” C3S Director Carlo Buontempo told reporters.
Globally, July 2026 tied July 2024 as the second warmest July ever recorded, surpassed only by July 2023.
Drought crisis
Western Europe, the fastest-warming region of the continent, experienced the most severe conditions.
The average temperature across June and July reached 21.62C, surpassing the previous record set in 2022 and reflecting what Copernicus described as the exceptional persistence of heat this summer.
June had already set a regional heat record, while July ranked as the second hottest on record.
With an average temperature of 22.48C, or 2.53C above the 1991-2020 average, July ranked behind only July 2006, when temperatures reached 22.54C.
Since May, Western Europe has experienced four periods of extreme heat, including two in July.
The heatwaves were intensified by widespread drought affecting France, Spain, parts of Germany and even areas of Britain.
Copernicus said soil moisture levels across Western Europe in July were significantly lower than those recorded during July 2022, the region's most recent major drought year.
According to Samantha Burgess of Copernicus, the situation provides:
“A clear example of how climate change intensifies extreme heat,”
while heat and drought reinforce one another.
The consequences have been immediate.
Water levels in major rivers, including the Seine, Rhine and Danube, have fallen to exceptionally low levels.
The situation is increasing pressure on:
- Water supplies.
- Irrigation systems.
- River ecosystems.
- Inland shipping.
- Energy production.
The conditions have also fuelled unusually intense wildfire activity, both in terms of land burned and carbon emissions.
In France, around 420,000 stremmata were affected by a major wildfire in Gironde, while in Spain approximately 440,000 stremmata burned in Avila province.
More records ahead?
The world's oceans recorded unprecedented temperatures for a second consecutive month in July.
Average global sea surface temperatures reached 20.96C, exceeding the previous record set in 2023.
Ocean temperatures were described as reaching “exceptionally high levels” across much of the tropical Pacific, where current El Niño conditions are expected to strengthen further in the coming months.
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern that tends to warm ocean waters and raise global temperatures while contributing to extreme weather events such as droughts and floods.
“We are facing a very large El Niño, whose intensity could be unprecedented,” Buontempo said.
He warned that it could contribute to a new global average temperature record by the end of this year or early 2027.
He stressed, however, that greenhouse gas emissions remain the principal driver of rising temperatures.
“The main engine of temperature increases, as we know, is greenhouse gases emitted by humanity into the atmosphere.”
Waters surrounding Europe, particularly in the western Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coastline, also recorded unusually high temperatures during July, consistent with marine heatwave conditions.
El Niño events typically reach their peak towards the end of the year, when heat stored in the ocean is released into the atmosphere, boosting global temperatures.
The previous El Niño episode contributed to 2023 becoming the second warmest year on record and 2024 becoming the warmest.
