Western Europe had record-hot June-July, EU monitor says

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said on August 10 that western Europe had its hottest June-July period on record, with a combined average temperature of 21.62C.

The EU climate monitor said the figure beat the 2022 record for the same period and reflected what it called the “exceptional persistence of heat” during the summer so far.

Copernicus said soil moisture levels were significantly lower than in July 2022, when western Europe was hit by a severe drought. It reported very dry conditions in July across western and central European countries including France, Spain, Austria, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Ireland and part of Iceland.

River flows were unusually low, with the Seine, Rhine and Danube particularly affected, Copernicus said. Transport, irrigation and energy production have been affected in several European countries.

Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus, said the pattern was “a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.”

Copernicus also said global average sea surface temperatures in July reached 20.96C, the highest on record for the month, as marine heatwaves affected areas around Europe and a powerful El Nino developed in the Pacific.

Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said parts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic were unusually warm, but that the developing El Nino was “probably the driving force” behind the record sea temperatures. He said scientists expect a new record for global average temperatures later this year or in early 2027.

Copernicus said July was globally the joint second-warmest July on record, with the average surface air temperature 1.47C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial benchmark.