Western Europe recorded its highest average temperature for a June-July period, reaching 21.62 degrees Celsius and surpassing the previous mark set in 2022, according to new Copernicus data reported by the Associated Press on Monday. The measurement extends a summer of exceptional heat that began in May and has intensified drought, wildfires and pressure on public health across the region.
Copernicus, the European Union climate monitoring service implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, bases its analysis on the ERA5 climate dataset. Its earlier June bulletin found that western Europe had its warmest June on record, with an average of 20.74 degrees Celsius, or 3.06 degrees above the 1991-2020 reference average.
The latest assessment also found that July produced the highest average sea-surface temperature recorded for that month across ice-free oceans outside the polar regions. The reading of 20.96 degrees Celsius exceeded the previous July record of 20.89 degrees set in 2023. Copernicus partly linked the ocean warmth to developing El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific.
Global surface air temperature averaged 16.90 degrees Celsius in July, tying July 2024 as the second warmest July in the dataset. Climate statistics cited by AP place 2026 as the third-hottest year so far, behind 2024 and 2025, although scientists said strengthening El Niño conditions and human-caused warming could lift the full-year result.
Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over western Europe, while dry soils lost part of their natural cooling effect and allowed temperatures to build further, ECMWF climate lead Samantha Burgess explained. The resulting feedback between heat and drought has accompanied major fires, unusually low river levels, national temperature records and thousands of projected heat-related deaths.
The findings do not determine where individual fires will ignite or how every local heat episode will develop, but they show that the regional background is becoming hotter and drier. Monitoring agencies will continue tracking El Niño, ocean heat and European conditions through the rest of the summer, when the eventual ranking of 2026 remains uncertain.
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