June 2026 recorded as hottest in western Europe

According to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, June 2026 was the hottest June on record for western Europe. The average temperature in the region reached 20.74 degrees Celsius, which is 3 degrees Celsius above the historical average recorded between 1991 and 2020. This data surpasses the previous record set in June 2025. Globally and continentally, the month was ranked as the second hottest on record. Samantha Burgess, a strategy official at the ECMWF, stated that Europe is warming significantly faster than the global average. Experts attribute this trend to changes in atmospheric circulation, warning that heatwaves will become more intense, frequent, and widespread. The report highlights that climate change is transitioning from a future abstraction to an immediate reality affecting daily life. Consequently, calls for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions have intensified.