Monitoring agency: Western Europe sets hottest June record, heatwaves increase in frequency and intensity

The European Union's climate monitoring agency said today that Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record this year, as a severe heatwave swept across the continent, which is facing more frequent and intense extreme high temperatures.

AFP reported that the report was released as Europe is experiencing a new wave of heat this week. The region has already seen record high temperatures in June, and abnormally early spring heat in May.

According to data from the European Union's climate monitoring agency, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature in Western Europe in June was 20.74 degrees Celsius (as below), which is more than 3 degrees higher than the average for the same period from 1991 to 2020, and also broke the regional record set in June 2025.

Samantha Burgess, head of the climate strategy at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said that as warming occurs, more heatwaves will occur in the future, "heatwaves will be more intense, last longer, and affect more regions."

The Copernicus Climate Change Service pointed out that June this year was the second hottest June on record for the globe and the entire European continent, indicating that human-caused climate change is continuing to drive up global temperatures.

According to Copernicus data, global temperatures in June were 1.39 degrees Celsius higher than the estimated average before industrialization from 1850 to 1900.

Global ocean temperatures in June also set a record for the same period in history. The El Nino phenomenon is currently continuing to develop, and it is expected that the El Nino phenomenon in the tropical Pacific region will continue to strengthen.

Burgess said, "We are at a turning point, and climate change has transformed from an abstract statistical future problem seen in reports to a concrete, present phenomenon that disrupts daily life."

Europe is the continent where global warming is occurring most rapidly, and changes in atmospheric circulation are contributing to more frequent and intense heatwaves.

June this year was particularly severe for Europe, mainly due to the phenomenon of a "heat dome," where a high-pressure system like a lid covers the surface, leading to record historical and monthly high temperatures in several countries.

This heatwave is believed to be related to thousands of deaths, with the most affected countries including France, Spain, and Belgium.

According to AFP analysis, during the heatwave from June 15 to June 30, more than two-thirds of the European population, or about 410 million people, experienced temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.

Burgess pointed out that high humidity was also a major factor in the intensity of the June heatwave, "The humidity is extremely high, which means people cannot get cooling relief even at night." (Compiled by Shi Shi) 1150709

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