Overview
- The Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed on July 9 that western Europe averaged 20.74°C in June 2026, more than 3°C above the 1991–2020 June norm and the region's highest June average on record.
- Copernicus also reported June 2026 was the world's second‑warmest June and that global June sea surface temperatures reached their highest levels on record, linked in part to a strengthening El Niño.
- Rapid attribution studies and climate experts said long‑term anthropogenic warming substantially worsened the late‑June heatwave while El Niño amplified ocean warmth but did not drive the European event.
- National authorities and health bodies reported thousands of provisional excess deaths across several countries and warned that high daytime heat and unusually warm nights ('tropical nights') intensified mortality and strain on health services.
- The heatwave worsened drought, fuelled large wildfires and forced evacuations in Iberia and southern France, and experts say the string of early‑summer extremes underscores gaps in housing, infrastructure and heat preparedness dating back to post‑2003 lessons.