The first two months of summer in western Europe have been the hottest on record, the European Union's climate monitor said Monday, as the continent grapples with devastating wildfires and braces for yet another heatwave.
The average temperature for June and July was 21.62 degrees Celsius (70.9 Fahrenheit), about 2.79 degrees above the average, and surpassing the previous heat record set in 2022, said the Copernicus climate change service.
July was also the hottest month ever logged for the world's non-polar oceans, Copernicus said, with record high temperatures set along the Atlantic and western Mediterranean, putting sea life and coastal communities at risk. The conditions were partly fueled by the so-called "Super" El Niño weather pattern developing in the pacific.
The continent has been hit by a string of deadly heatwaves, with more hot temperatures forecast for this week. Heat has killed more than 25,000 people across Europe this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
People walk past a misting fan during a heatwave in Rome at the Colosseum, on August 6, 2026. – Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images
Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent but is particularly ill-equipped to withstand heat, due to older infrastructure and a lack of air conditioning.
The scorching temperatures and persistent droughts in June and July mutually reinforced each other to create a hot weather spiral, according to Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
"As soils dry out, they lose their ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to build more readily," Burgess said, adding that it was "a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes."
Surface soil moisture levels across western Europe in July 2026 were also "significantly lower" than in July 2022, the last summer the region saw extreme drought, with "exceptional to record deficits" for rain and soil moisture in France, Spain and parts of Germany and the United Kingdom, the scientists found.
A hiker walks through an area affected by a forest and vegetation fire that burned several hectares in the commune of Mizerieux, France, on August 7, 2026. – Romain Doucelin/NurPhoto/Getty Images
The record-breaking summer heat has fostered conditions for Europe's record-setting wildfires, which have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and burned more than 1.23 million acres of land, mainly in Spain, France and Italy, according to an August 6 report by the EU.
Beyond the scorched land, the fires have also had a broader effect across the continent, increasing emissions and disrupting air quality, said Laurence Rouil, director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
"Larger fires produce more smoke and inject it higher into the atmosphere, meaning it can travel further and impact air quality not only locally, but across the wider region," Rouil said.
Severe droughts have also sucked the water from Europe's major rivers, particularly the Seine, the Rhine and the Danube, threatening the continent's energy supply.
People walk on a sandbar underneath the Danube's Margareth Bridge in downtown Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday August 5, 2026, as the river has receded never-before-seen low water levels. – Bela Szandelszky/AP