PARIS: Western Europe experienced its hottest combined June-July period on record as climate change intensified heat, drought and wildfire conditions across the region, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said Monday.
The average temperature across western Europe during June and July reached 21.62°C, surpassing the previous record set in 2022, according to Copernicus.
The climate monitoring service said the record reflected the “exceptional persistence of heat” across the region this summer. Soil moisture levels were also significantly lower than in July 2022, when western Europe experienced a severe drought.
“This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another,” said Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus.
Very dry conditions were recorded in July across western and central European countries including France, Spain, Austria and Hungary, as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland and parts of Iceland.
River levels and flows were unusually low, with the Seine, Rhine and Danube among the rivers particularly affected. The conditions disrupted transport, irrigation and energy production in several countries.
The combination of extreme heat and dryness has also increased the risk of wildfires. France and Spain have faced some of their most severe wildfires in decades, while major fires have also affected other parts of Europe, the northwestern United States and Canada.
Oceans also reach record temperatures
Copernicus said global ocean temperatures reached a record high for the second consecutive month in July, driven partly by marine heatwaves around Europe and the developing El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific.
The global average sea surface temperature reached 20.96°C in July, exceeding the previous record set in 2023.
Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo said parts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic were unusually warm and that the developing El Niño was likely a major contributor to the record ocean temperatures.
“We are now facing a very large El Niño — possibly unprecedented in terms of amplitude,” Buontempo told reporters on August 5.
El Niño is the warm phase of a natural climate cycle that raises temperatures in the tropical Pacific and can influence extreme weather, including droughts and floods, around the world. It can also add heat to a planet already warming because of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
Scientists expect the current El Niño to contribute to another record in global average temperatures later this year or in early 2027, Buontempo said.
Globally, July was jointly the second-warmest July on record, with the average surface air temperature 1.47°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial level, according to Copernicus.
The last 11 years have been the hottest on record, the agency said.
Buontempo said greenhouse gas emissions remain the main driver of the long-term warming trend.
Oceans absorb most of the excess heat generated by human carbon emissions and play a major role in regulating the climate. Rising ocean temperatures can contribute to stronger storms and heavier rainfall while also causing damage to marine ecosystems, including coral bleaching.
Copernicus compiles climate measurements from billions of satellite and weather observations collected on land and at sea, with records extending back to 1940.
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