Copernicus reports 52% of Europe endured intense heat stress during summer 2026

Extent of European heat stress

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on 2 October 2026 that 52% of Europe experienced very strong heat stress during summer 2026, corresponding to feels-like temperatures above 38°C. Strong heat stress, defined as feels-like temperatures exceeding 32°C, covered roughly 80% of the continent and occurred on 41 days across the season. Surface air temperatures in Western Europe between June and August averaged 2.5°C above the 1991–2020 norm, making it the hottest summer on record for the western region. Across the entire continent, the season ranked as the third warmest recorded, behind only previous extremes. Four of Europe's top ten heatwaves occurred during summer 2026, though August 2003 remained the most severe single event.

One of the things that stands out for 2026 is that the heat was not only remarkable for its intensity, but also for its geographical extent.

Western European heatwaves and mortality

Persistent high temperatures affected Western Europe for longer durations than during previous extreme summers. At least 60% of Western Europe experienced temperatures above 30°C on 17 days, compared to 11 days during the 2003 heatwave and seven days in 2025. Western Europe also registered 13 days of very strong heat stress. Health data compiled by Bloomberg indicated that more than 34,600 people died from heat-related causes across five nations: Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Belgium. In Spain, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III registered 5,805 heat-related excess deaths between 15 May and 30 September, the highest toll since records began in 2015 and over 1,000 deaths above the previous record set in 2022. Spain suffered 61 heatwave days across five distinct episodes, with 10 July marking the single deadliest day. In France, provisional public health figures attributed 7,824 deaths to three separate summer heatwaves.

Spain has recorded 61 heat wave days over the summer, with four heat waves, a fifth in September and extreme heat episodes in May. All of that has resulted in an increase of deaths attributable to heat.

Drought and river navigation impacts

High air and sea temperatures coincided with prolonged dry conditions across the continent. European river flows dropped to their lowest summer levels since monitoring began in 1992, disrupting inland freight shipping, constraining agricultural irrigation, and reducing water available for hydropower generation and nuclear reactor cooling. By the end of August, drought conditions affected nearly half of Europe, continuing a 45-year trend of expanding drought. European sea surface temperatures also reached all-time highs during the summer months.

Seasonal timeline and regional scope

The heat began unusually early when a severe heat episode affected Europe in late May, followed by repeated heatwaves through September. Temperatures over the summer were the highest since at least 1979 across nearly all of England, Wales, and Belgium, as well as most of France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. Météo-France confirmed at the start of September that summer 2026 was the hottest in French history. While a global El Niño pattern broke sea surface temperature records elsewhere, Copernicus and climate researchers attributed the intense European heat primarily to atmospheric fossil fuel pollution.