This summer has become one of the hottest in the history of Europe

04.10.2026, 06:47◉ 02 min readEditorial team “SHCHO STALOSIA”

The heat that reigned almost uninterruptedly in Western Europe this summer was the strongest on record: more than half of the region experienced “very severe” heat stress, with perceptible temperatures exceeding 38°C. Ukrinform.

This summer has become one of the hottest in the history of Europe

The Guardian reports, citing data from the European climate monitoring service Copernicus, Ukrinform reports.

In Europe, the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which raises global temperatures and exacerbates extreme weather events from South America to Australia, are felt mainly indirectly — in particular, due to rising food prices nutrition and inflation. Instead, this summer's intense heat was caused primarily by atmospheric pollution from the burning of fossil fuels.

This year, summer weather came to Europe extremely early - at the end of May, and high temperatures lasted until September. Repeated heatwaves, which are becoming stronger and more frequent due to climate change, have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people across the continent, as well as causing crop losses and shutting down power plants.

Details

The combination of extreme heat, drought, and wildfires was particularly devastating. This summer, sea surface temperatures in Europe also broke records, and the continent's rivers had their lowest summer runoff in more than 30 years. The heat and large-scale drought contributed to the spread of fires.

Smoke from the fires, one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, has released 30% more fine particulate matter into the air than the average over the past two decades.

Context

According to updated data, the average surface air temperature in Western Europe from June to August was 2.5°C higher than the average over the past ten years. On the rest of the continent, the heat was less intense but also life-threatening. As a result, the summer of 2026 was the third hottest in the history of Europe.

At least 60% of Western Europe this summer experienced temperatures above 30°C for 17 days. For comparison, in 2003, which was also marked by severe heat, there were 11 such days, and in 2025 — seven. In addition, Western Europe experienced a record 13 days of “very severe” heat stress.