PARIS: Western Europe sweltered through its hottest June on record last month, as extreme temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said on Wednesday (Jul 9).
Dangerous temperatures stretched into July, with separate research estimating that climate change made the heat up to 4°C hotter, pushing the thermometer into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people and greatly worsening the projected death toll.
Millions of people were exposed to high heat stress as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before – and never so early in the summer.
Several countries recorded surface temperatures above 40°C, with heat of up to 46°C in Spain and Portugal, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.
“In a warming world, heatwaves are likely to become more frequent, more intense and impact more people across Europe,” said Samantha Burgess, the EU monitor’s Strategic Lead for Climate.
The two heatwaves, in mid and late June, were linked to heat domes trapping warm air over affected regions and worsening pollution and wildfire conditions.
France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and much of the Balkans saw some of the hottest “feels-like” temperatures, which measure the impact on the human body by taking into account factors such as humidity.
Maximum feels-like temperatures north of Lisbon hit 48°C, about 7°C above average and associated with “extreme heat stress”, said Copernicus.
Large parts of southern Europe also experienced so-called “tropical nights”, when overnight temperatures don’t fall low enough to let the body recover.
