Western Europe records hottest June-July as oceans hit all-time July high

Record heat across Western Europe

Western Europe experienced its hottest June-July period on record, with a combined average temperature of 21.62°C, surpassing the previous record set in 2022. The figure was 2.79°C above the regional average. June 2026 was already a record-hot month for the area, and July ranked as the second-hottest July on record for western Europe at 22.48°C, 2.53°C above the 1991-2020 normals, just behind July 2006 at 22.54°C. Since May, the region has endured four extreme heat episodes, including two in July. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, and the first two months of summer have been marked by successive heatwaves, scorching temperatures, and bone-dry conditions.

Global and continental temperature picture

Globally, July 2026 was the second-warmest July ever recorded in the ERA5 dataset, tied with July 2024 and behind only July 2023. The global average surface air temperature reached 16.90°C, 0.67°C above the 1991-2020 average for July and 1.47°C above the estimated pre-industrial average for 1850-1900. Europe as a whole saw an average temperature of 20.49°C, 0.66°C above the 1991-2020 average, making it the 11th-warmest July on the continent. The contrast within Europe was stark: temperatures well above normal covered France, Spain, England, and Ireland, while eastern Europe and Scandinavia recorded below-average values.

Record ocean heat

The world's oceans reached record-high temperatures for a second straight month in July. The average sea surface temperature for the extra-polar ocean between 60°S and 60°N was 20.96°C, surpassing the previous July record of 20.89°C set in 2023. Record-high sea surface temperatures were observed along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, associated with widespread strong or severe marine heatwaves affecting coastal communities and ecosystems. Exceptionally high temperatures were also recorded across much of the tropical Pacific, where El Niño conditions are present and forecast to strengthen in coming months.

Drought, rivers, and wildfires

Soil moisture levels in western Europe were significantly lower than in July 2022, the last summer marked by severe drought in the region. National agencies in France, Spain, parts of Germany, and Britain reported exceptional to record deficits in precipitation and soil moisture. River flows were exceptionally low, with the Seine, Rhine, and Danube particularly affected. These low levels increased pressure on water supply, irrigation, aquatic ecosystems, river transport, and energy production in several countries. The hot and dry conditions were conducive to exceptional wildfire activity in western Europe. France and Spain battled their worst wildfires in living memory this summer, while other nations in Europe as well as the US northwest and Canada also experienced serious blazes. Arctic sea ice extent reached its sixth-lowest value on record for July, while Antarctic sea ice ranked fifth-lowest for the month.

Scientists warn of intensifying extremes

Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, warned journalists on 5 August about the scale of the changes.

We have not known such a climate in our lifetime and perhaps not even since the advent of our civilization.

He also pointed to the developing El Niño as a driving force behind the record sea temperatures.

We are now facing a very large El Nino - possibly unprecedented in terms of amplitude. It is clear that the contribution coming from the tropical Pacific becomes quite important.

Samantha Burgess from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus, described the interaction between heat and drought.

This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.