Western Europe experienced its warmest June on record last month, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), following an extreme heatwave that broke temperature records, disrupted energy supplies and forced schools to close in several countries.
The average temperature across Western Europe reached 20.74 degrees Celsius in June, more than 3 degrees above the 1991–2020 average for the month, according to Copernicus data. The organization defines the region as extending from Spain and the United Kingdom eastwards through countries including Germany, Italy and parts of Austria. June was also the second-warmest month globally on record for that period, while global sea surface temperatures reached their highest levels ever recorded for the month of June.
‘June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing,’ said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. She warned that the combination of increasingly intense heatwaves, unusually warm oceans and rising climate risks is placing growing pressure on societies, ecosystems and infrastructure. The record temperatures came after a powerful heatwave struck parts of Europe at the end of June, affecting millions of people and putting significant strain on public services.
Authorities reported more than 4,700 excess deaths linked to the heatwave in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Officials warned that the final death toll could rise further as additional data becomes available. The extreme heat also contributed to widespread environmental damage. Wildfires intensified across parts of the Iberian Peninsula and France, while prolonged hot and dry conditions worsened drought risks in several regions. Western Europe has experienced three major heatwaves within just a few months, with Spain and Portugal facing another period of extreme temperatures shortly after the June event.
Climate scientists say rising global temperatures are increasing the likelihood and intensity of extreme heat events. According to the World Meteorological Organization, greenhouse gas emissions from activities such as burning coal, oil and gas have pushed global temperatures to around 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That warmer baseline means heatwaves are now occurring on top of an already elevated global temperature, allowing extreme temperatures to reach higher levels.
‘The relationship between heatwaves and global warming is about as straightforward as it gets: on a hotter planet, there will be more heatwaves, and they will become more intense,’ said Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. A scientific analysis published after the European heatwave concluded that such extreme temperatures would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-caused climate change.
Beyond Europe’s heatwave, Copernicus also highlighted record-breaking global sea surface temperatures during June. Scientists said several factors contributed to unusually warm oceans, including the development of a strong El Niño climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean.
However, researchers noted that El Niño was not responsible for Europe’s June heatwave. Instead, climate change played a major role in amplifying the intensity of the extreme temperatures experienced across the continent. Copernicus’ temperature records date back to 1940 and are compared with longer-term global climate records extending back to 1850.
The latest data adds to growing scientific evidence that extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and severe as global temperatures continue to rise.
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