Western Europe records hottest June-July ever as oceans hit new temperature high

Record heat across Western Europe

Western Europe experienced its warmest June-July period on record, with an average temperature of 21.62°C, exceeding the 1991-2020 reference by 2.79°C and surpassing the previous record set in 2022. The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced the findings on 10 August in Bonn. June 2026 was the hottest June on record for the region, and July ranked second among the hottest Julys, with an average of 22.48°C (2.53°C above the 1991-2020 norm), just behind July 2006 at 22.54°C. Since May, Western Europe has endured four heat waves, two of them in July, which Copernicus described as an exceptional series even though the July waves were less intense than those in June.

Drought, rivers and nuclear power

Soil moisture in July was significantly lower than in July 2022, the last summer marked by severe drought in Western Europe. Approximately 95% of metropolitan France and 99% of Switzerland were affected by drought in July, both records since the European Drought Observatory began collecting data in 2012. River levels dropped across the region, with the Seine, Rhine and Danube particularly affected. Jens Schwanen, director of BDB, the German inland shipping association, said the Rhine was effectively split in two because it was no longer navigable along its entire length. Romania blew up rocks and dredged the Danube riverbed to channel cooling water through a side arm to the Cernavoda nuclear plant, allowing the second reactor to run nine days longer. The first reactor was shut down at the end of July.

Oceans reach record warmth

Global ocean surface temperatures (excluding polar regions) reached 20.96°C in July 2026, surpassing the previous July record of 20.89°C set in 2023. Record sea surface temperatures were measured along the Atlantic coast of Western Europe and in the western Mediterranean. Meteorologist Rob Groenland of the KNMI said the oceans act as a buffer absorbing heat, and that the coming twelve months would see significant consequences including heavier rainfall and potentially stronger winter storms.

Now we are dealing with intense drought, but in about four months it could easily be the case that we have enormous water problems.

Oceanographer Sjoerd Groeskamp of NIOZ noted that fish are migrating to other areas, disrupting ecosystems and livelihoods dependent on fishing, and that coral, which cannot flee, is dying. Warmer surface layers also mix less with colder deep water, reducing oxygen levels and increasing acidification, which harms shell-forming organisms such as oysters and mussels.

Global context and wildfires

Globally, July 2026 tied with July 2024 as the second-warmest July on record, behind only July 2023. The global average surface air temperature was 16.9°C, 0.67°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.47°C above the estimated pre-industrial average (1850-1900). NOAA announced that July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States (excluding Hawaii and Alaska), and the same was true for France. Wildfires burned across Southern Europe, with firefighters battling large fires in France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. Smoke from fires near Bordeaux and in Spain degraded air quality as far away as the Netherlands. Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said Germany's long-term warming stands at 2.5°C per the German Weather Service, double the global average.

This warming will continue until the world becomes climate-neutral, that is, above all, until it exits fossil energy use.