PARIS (AP) \u2014 France recorded its hottest summer since measurements began more than a century ago, the environment minister said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Firefighters relentlessly tackled wildfires throughout the summer,<\/a> even in normally cooler and wetter regions in the north and Brittany, as France experienced one of its driest years ever. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux<\/a> and forced a quarter of a million people to evacuate from their homes. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have experienced the hottest summer ever recorded since measurements began in 1900,\u201d Environment Minister Monique Barbut said at a presentation of the climate report covering the months of June, July and August.<\/p>\n According to national weather agency Meteo France, the summer of 2026<\/a> recorded an average temperature of 24 degrees Celsius (75.2 degrees Fahrenheit), covering day and nighttime. It\u2019s 3.6 C (6.5 F) above the normal average, and higher than in 2003, when temperatures were 2.7 C (4.9 F) above normal.<\/p>\n Millions in France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom<\/a> and elsewhere in Europe experienced extreme temperatures this summer. Europe is the world\u2019s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service.<\/p>\n Meteo France, said the summer was marked by very low rainfall, with a deficit of nearly 40%, making it the second driest since records began.<\/p>\n