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(CN) — Heat waves that left Great Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia and Spain sweltering last month also brought the hottest June ever recorded in Western Europe, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
On top of that, last month was the second-warmest June ever measured globally, barely under June 2024, which was the hottest year on record, Copernicus reported Thursday. Copernicus is the European Union’s climate change and weather monitor.
Western Europe recorded an average temperature in June of 20.74 degrees Celsius (69.33 degrees Fahrenheit), which made it 3.05 C (5.49 F) warmer than average.
Globally, June’s average surface air temperature was 16.54 C (61.77 F), or 1.39 C (2.5 F) above the average global temperature before the planet started warming up due to the mass burning of fossil fuels.
“June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing,” said Samantha Burgess, a lead climate scientist at Copernicus. “Together, these records reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat.”
Scientists said last month’s record-breaking heat waves would not have been possible without human-caused global warming. Due to its geographic position, scientists say Europe is warming at more than twice the global average.
The heat waves were lethal too, causing thousands of deaths.
On Thursday, Germany’s main health institute linked more than 5,000 deaths to June’s heat waves. Other European countries are still assessing how many people died from the heat, but already estimates have climbed to more than 3,000 deaths in France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The heat waves put massive stresses on healthcare systems with emergency rooms filling up and ambulance services breaking records, according to the World Health Organization.
Last month, heat records were eclipsed in England, Denmark, France and elsewhere. France even endured its hottest day ever on June 23 when the country’s national thermal indicator — an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations— hit a new record of 29.8 C (85.6 F).
Even more alarming, scientists warn temperatures are likely to get even hotter in the coming months following the recent emergence of a strong El Niño weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean. El Niños are associated with warmer temperatures and unpredictable weather.
This new El Niño’s gathering strength was reflected in sea temperature data with Copernicus saying last month saw the highest global sea surface temperatures ever recorded for June. Globally, sea temperatures were a smidgen higher than June 2024.
Europe’s June heat waves on land were accompanied by marine heatwaves across the western Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coasts, Copernicus said.
Along with the heat came widespread dryness and that has fed into a spate of wildfires. In recent days, France and Spain have been battling major wildfires.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
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