Western Europe Records Hottest June in History

Western Europe experienced its hottest June in history in 2026, whilst global temperatures ranked as the second highest ever recorded for the month, according to a statement from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Thursday. The European Union’s climate monitoring service said the heat was caused by persistent warming on land and in the oceans, with sea surface temperatures reaching their highest point for any June in the recorded data. June recorded a global average surface air temperature of 16.54 degrees Celsius. The service said the average sea surface temperature in oceans outside the polar regions, between 60 degrees south latitude and 60 degrees north latitude, reached a record 20.86 degrees Celsius. It noted that exceptionally high sea temperatures continued across much of the tropical Pacific as El Nino conditions developed and are expected to strengthen in the coming months. Severe heatwaves swept across much of western and central Europe during the second half of June, breaking monthly and all-time temperature records in several countries. Western Europe recorded an average temperature of 20.74 degrees Celsius – the hottest June ever recorded in the region. Across the whole of Europe, the average land temperature reached 19.14 degrees Celsius, the second highest June on record. The heatwave occurred just weeks after another extreme heat event in May and was followed by extreme heat in early July, highlighting the increasing frequency and intensity of heat extremes, according to C3S. “June 2026 underscores just how devastating climate change is,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In addition to the extreme heat, much of western Europe experienced drier-than-average conditions in June. C3S said persistent high pressure and heatwave conditions contributed to drought risk in parts of eastern Europe and increased wildfire activity, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Dry soils across western and central Europe, which had developed during the May heatwave, further exacerbated drought conditions. Arctic sea ice extent in June was about 5 percent below average, ranking as the sixth lowest recorded for the month. The largest decline was observed in the northern Barents Sea, particularly around Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. In Antarctica, sea ice extent was about 8 percent below average, also ranking as the sixth lowest for June.