WESTERN EUROPE — June 2026 was the hottest June on record for Western Europe, according to a report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. This period coincided with extreme heatwaves, wildfires, and over 1,300 heat-related deaths across Europe.

Globally, June 2026 was the second-hottest June ever recorded. Continental Europe experienced its second-highest June temperature on record, with temperatures about 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 1991-2020 average. Temperatures in Western Europe were nearly 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1991-2020 average during the same month.

Samantha Burgess, a climate expert at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said, "June's conditions underscored how profoundly the climate is changing." She added, "Together, these records reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat." Burgess also noted that record temperatures on land in June 2026 occurred alongside marine heat waves across parts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. "The result is increasingly intense heatwaves, a persistently warm ocean, and growing risks for people, ecosystems and infrastructure across Europe and beyond," she said.

Wildfires burned more than 11,000 acres in southern France in June 2026, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. Approximately 10,000 evacuations took place in the region due to these wildfires. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported that dozens of people died from drowning in France during one week in June 2026.

Officials in France recorded around 1,000 excess deaths, primarily among elderly residents, attributed to heat exposure in June 2026. France repeatedly broke its own temperature records throughout the month. The United Kingdom also broke its own temperature records in June 2026. Since June 21, 2026, Europe reported more than 1,300 heat-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization chief.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service report stated, "The succession of heatwaves illustrates the growing challenge posed by increasingly frequent and intense heat extremes across Europe and the globe." Sea surface temperatures remained at exceptionally high levels across a section of the tropical Pacific Ocean in June 2026. The world's oceans were the hottest on record for June that year. The World Meteorological Organization stated that the current El Niño could be particularly intense. The European Union's Joint Research center indicated that El Niño might lead to warmer-than-normal autumn temperatures in Europe, with this warmth possibly building towards spring 2027. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated, "Globally, extreme temperature events are observed to be increasing in their frequency, duration, and magnitude." The WHO estimated that the number of people exposed to heat waves increased by approximately 125 million between 2000 and 2016.