Western Europe sets new temperature record as heat waves pummel the region
Copernicus said persistent heat and drought drove the record, with July averaging 20.96 C and sea-surface temperatures also setting a mark.
- Western Europe recorded its hottest June-July period on record with temperatures averaging 21.62°C, surpassing the previous 2022 record, according to Copernicus.
- Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over the region, amplifying widespread drought; soil moisture levels were "significantly lower" than in July 2022, reducing natural cooling, Copernicus added.
- River flows in the Seine, Rhine, and Danube reached record lows, impacting transport and energy production, while France and Spain battled severe wildfires during the heatwaves.
- Global ocean temperatures hit record highs in July, driven by marine heatwaves and a developing El Nino in the Pacific; Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo said El Nino "is probably the driving force."
- Scientists expect new global average temperature records later this year or early 2027, with greenhouse gases identified as the main warming driver, Buontempo noted.
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Copernicus: exceptional torrid heat and drought have favored extreme fires. In July the surface of the extra-polar oceans reached 20,96 degrees, exceeding the previous record of 2023. In the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic waves of diffused and intense marine heat
The average temperature reached a record 21.62°C in the region in June and July, according to Copernicus. Heat waves, drought and fires multiplied, while the oceans also experienced their warmest July.
In Western Europe, June and July have been as hot as ever since temperature records began.
Catastrophic fires, successive heat waves and mammoth bones turning up in dried-up rivers – Western Europe is currently experiencing the most extreme summer ever recorded. June and July are breaking previous records, says the EU's climate service Copernicus. Now another heat wave is taking hold of the continent.
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