The summer of 2026 has officially been recognized as the hottest in Europe since meteorological records began, reports The Guardian, citing data from the European climate monitoring service Copernicus. August matched the record average monthly temperature previously set in July 2023, and the June–August period was one of the warmest on record for the planet as a whole—tying with 2024.

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which prepared the report jointly with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the near-surface air temperature in August 2026 exceeded the pre-industrial level of 1850–1900 by 1,65 degrees Celsius. As noted by ECMWF representative Samantha Burgess, the recorded figures demonstrate how climate change intensifies extreme events in both the atmosphere and the ocean.

Global ocean surface temperatures also approached record highs: according to Copernicus data, June and July were the hottest months on record in Western Europe, with an average temperature of approximately 21.6 degrees—nearly 2,8 degrees above the long-term average. From July onwards, ocean waters—with the exception of polar regions—were also warmer than ever before.

The extreme heat was accompanied by prolonged heatwaves, drought, and forest fires in a number of European countries. France, along with Belgium, the UK, and Ireland, recorded its hottest summer since meteorological records began. According to the national meteorological agency Météo-France, the average summer temperature in France was 24 degrees Celsius, which is 3.6 degrees above normal. At the same time, the country faced a precipitation deficit of nearly 40%, making the summer of 2026 the second driest on record.

Extreme heat has led to a significant rise in mortality across the continent. Preliminary data indicate that the number of excess deaths in Europe over the summer exceeded 35 thousand—even though this estimate covers only about half the continent, and the data for August have not yet been fully processed. In particular, Germany recorded approximately 14 thousand excess deaths and France over 7,3 thousand, while Spain experienced its deadliest year on record in terms of heat-related fatalities, with nearly 5 thousand cases.

Scientists attribute the increasing frequency of anomalies to ongoing climate change and warn that such extreme events will recur more and more often.