Belgium records hottest summer since 1833

Belgium recorded its hottest summer since observations began in 1833, the country's Royal Meteorological Institute said Tuesday.

Temperatures at the official national reference station in Uccle, outside Brussels, averaged 20.3C. The institute said that was 2.4C above the mean of recent decades and the first time the summer average at the station had exceeded 20C.

The previous record was 19.9C, set in 2018.

Belgium, more used to mild and wet weather, has experienced several heatwaves since June. In August, it was hit by its largest wildfire in a century, which was brought under control after a seven-day effort involving hundreds of firefighters.

The Belgian record came during a summer of heat across Europe. France, Greece, Portugal and Spain battled major fires, while Britain also reported its hottest summer on record on Tuesday. All-time temperature records were also broken in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary earlier in the summer.

Scientists warn that climate change is making extreme weather events more intense and causing heat records to fall more often. An AFP analysis of data from the European Union's Copernicus climate observatory found that 33 countries, from western Europe to the Sahel and Central America, recorded their hottest July since records began this year.