Western European countries recorded their highest temperatures ever during June and July, with an average temperature of 21.62 degrees Celsius, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
This figure is 2.79 degrees higher than the average for June from 1991 to 2020.
In a report released on Monday, Copernicus, based in Bonn, Germany, noted a significant temperature gradient from Western Europe to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, where the weather was much colder.
For Europe as a whole, last month ranked as the 11th hottest July on record, with an average temperature of 20.49 degrees.
Globally, last month, along with 2024, was the second hottest July on record, at 16.9 degrees Celsius. The record remains set in July 2023 at 16.95 degrees. Last month was 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial global average for July.
Copernicus said that Western Europe has experienced exceptionally prolonged heatwave conditions since late spring, with four unusually intense heatwaves recorded since May. The program's records date back to 1950, with some even older data available.
As in June and parts of May,, conditions in July were drier than average across many regions of Europe. Parts of the Iberian Peninsula, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the United Kingdom were particularly affected, according to Copernicus. Soil surface moisture in Western Europe in July was significantly lower than in the last drought-affected July in 2022.
“When soil dries out, it loses its ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to accumulate more easily,” said Samantha Burgess, Copernicus Climate Strategic Lead. “This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing each other.”
Copernicus said river levels were well below long-term averages across large parts of the affected dry areas, with the Seine, Rhine and Danube rivers among the most severely affected.
Ocean temperatures worldwide have also risen to record levels. The average global sea surface temperature in July was the highest ever recorded for that month since records began, reaching 20.96 degrees Celsius. The previous record of 20.89 degrees Celsius was set in July 2023. These temperatures refer to seas outside the polar regions.
Copernicus pointed to the currently high temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean as a result of the El Niño climate phenomenon, which is likely to intensify in the coming months.
Along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, water temperatures reached record levels, accompanied by severe marine heat waves.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service publishes regular data on topics including surface air temperature, sea ice cover, and precipitation. Its findings are based on computer-generated analyses that rely on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations around the world.
