![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0024efe5-614.jpg\"\/)
\nAn infographic titled ‘Drought in Europe’ created on 20 August 2026<\/p>\n
Record August temperatures are expected to be reported in a number of countries globally after a summer of intense heat, while the impact of strengthening El Ni\u00f1o conditions are beginning to be felt in the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Belgium experienced several heatwaves since June and was hit by its largest wildfire in a century in August as it chalked up its hottest summer to date.<\/p>\n
Temperatures at the official national reference station in Uccle, outside Brussels, averaged 20.3C, which is 2.4C above the mean of recent decades, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) said.<\/p>\n
“This represents an all-time record (based on observations dating back to 1833) and marks the first time this average has exceeded 20C,” it added.<\/p>\n
Scientists warn that climate change is making extreme weather events more intense and resulting in heat records tumbling with increasing frequency.<\/p>\n
Some 33 countries, spanning from western Europe to the Sahel and central America, recorded their hottest July since records began this year, according to AFP analysis of data from the European Union’s Copernicus climate observatory.<\/p>\n
\nAn infographic titled ‘Drought in Europe’ created on 20 August 2026<\/p>\n
All-time temperature records were also broken in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary earlier in the season.<\/p>\n
Exceptional summer heatwaves have been linked with thousands of excess deaths across Europe.<\/p>\n
Spain registered more than 5,000 heat-related deaths from June to August, data from a public health institute also showed on, a record since the start of its statistics in 2015.<\/p>\n
Of those who died, 1,283 were \u200cwomen and 866 were men, while 2,064 were aged over \u206065, including \u200c1,285 who were over 85.<\/p>\n
Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people among the most \u2060vulnerable.<\/p>\n
May and June heatwaves led to an estimated 2,877 excess deaths in England, according to the UK’s Health Security Agency, almost double the tally of the whole of the summer in 2025.<\/p>\n
Britain experienced \u2060its hottest summer since records began in 1884, according to provisional Met \u200cOffice \u2060statistics, after a season of intense heat and \u200cdrought<\/a>.<\/p>\n The average mean temperature \u2060of \u200c16.5C meant this \u2060summer \u200cwas the warmest on record for the \u2060second year in \u2060a row, the Met Office said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile India endured its hottest August since records began in 1901, with the country’s mean temperature reaching 28.01C, the India Meteorological Department said.<\/p>\n The mean temperature was 0.67C above the long-term average for August, the department said, releasing the results at the end of the month.<\/p>\n It broke the previous record for August set in 2023, when the mean temperature was 28.0C, it added.<\/p>\n India’s monsoon rainfall was 16% below normal in August, the meteorological department said, which increased heat, due in part to El Ni\u00f1o conditions.<\/p>\n El Ni\u00f1o is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that brings worldwide changes in winds, air pressure and rainfall patterns.<\/p>\n In India and Southeast Asia, it typically causes drier conditions. Scientists fear it will exacerbate the heat of a planet already warming from burning fossil fuels, while amping up weather extremes.<\/p>\n India, the world’s most populous country, is particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.<\/p>\n Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat extremes, with temperatures soaring to dangerous levels in parts of the country in recent years.<\/p>\n Read more: Strengthening El Ni\u00f1o could bring wet and stormy weather – Met \u00c9ireann<\/a> It comes as efforts to reduce wildfires ablaze across Indonesia will be challenging as the El Ni\u00f1o weather phenomenon will peak this month, the forestry minister said, describing the devastation as largely man-made.<\/p>\n Indonesia has intensified efforts to contain haze from forest and land fires across six provinces in Borneo and Sumatra islands.<\/p>\n The haze has caused respiratory illnesses and forced thousands of schools to move classes online, including in neighbouring Malaysia.<\/p>\n The “super-El Ni\u00f1o” weather conditions exacerbate the fires, causing drought.<\/p>\n Hot spots were reduced across Kalimantan and Sumatra by the end of August, minister Raja Juli Antoni said.<\/p>\n “Our problems are not over. September is the peak of El Ni\u00f1o,” \u200che said.<\/p>\n “September is the \u2060main fight for us.”<\/p>\n The haze caused more than 50,000 cases of acute respiratory infection across seven provinces between July and August, health ministry official Andi Saguni said.<\/p>\n Winds blows haze to surrounding provinces and cause infections in places without wildfires, Mr Saguni added.<\/p>\n Wildfires burned about 200,000 hectares of land from January \u200cto July, forestry ministry data showed, increasing from 107,465 burned hectares from January to June.<\/p>\n Raja Juli said the fires were in large \u2060part deliberately set, either by individuals or corporations.<\/p>\n Despite crackdowns, burning forests to clear land \u200cfor agriculture and other economic activities has been a common practice in Indonesia. Borneo \u2060has vast \u200cstretches of peatland where fire can smoulder underground for weeks.<\/p>\n Six forestry permit holders have been fined and the ministry has said a criminal probe was possible.<\/p>\n Satellite imaging has revealed that 42 companies hold concessions with high \u2060wildfire potential, senior environment ministry official Rizal Irawan said.<\/p>\n Authorities used weather modification to trigger \u2060rain and have “water bombed” areas to contain the hot spots and mitigate the fires, Raja Juli said.<\/p>\n The Philippines said haze blanketed the capital Manila, pushing air quality to “very unhealthy” and “acutely unhealthy” levels in some areas.<\/p>\n The air quality in six areas in Malaysia’s state of Sarawak reached hazardous levels, data from Malaysia’s environmental department showed.<\/p>\n Anchovy migration<\/p>\n Peru, the world’s largest catcher of anchovy, is facing a “devastating blow” from warming seas that have gutted production, sparking an unemployment crisis, industry officials said.<\/p>\n Anchoveta is a key ingredient in fishmeal, which is used to make animal feed and organic fertilizer, with Peru catching 1.3 million metric tons of the small, silver fish in May last year, according to government data.<\/p>\n But this year’s El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon – which scientists predict will be the biggest in over a century – has been blamed for warming sea surface temperatures and forcing the creatures to cooler seas.<\/p>\n Peru caught just 32,800 metric tonnes of anchovies in May this year, and is one of a string of Latin American countries to declare an emergency over the weather pattern.<\/p>\n El Nino raises surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, generating global changes in winds and rainfall as well as erratic weather conditions.<\/p>\n Scientists predict the current occurrence will reach its peak by the end of the year and cause record global heat in 2027.<\/p>\n Accustomed to cold waters, anchovy have migrated to deeper waters, said the Institute of the Sea of Peru (IMARPE), which recorded temperatures up to 6C higher than normal in some areas.<\/p>\n “It’s a devastating blow to the sector,” said Jessica Luna, president of Peru’s National Fisheries Society, which represents industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n Job losses<\/p>\n The group commissioned a study that found fishing and related industries will account for 1.1% of Peru’s gross domestic product this year, down from 2.1% in 2025.<\/p>\n Peru counts about 8,000 registered industrial fishermen, but the sector is also a big employer on land.<\/p>\n “We usually create 250,000 jobs” but “122,000 will be lost” by next year, said Ms Luna.<\/p>\n A second fishing season normally starts in November, but that looks uncertain.<\/p>\n “We already know from the projections,” she said.<\/p>\n “El Ni\u00f1o comes into full force that month.”<\/p>\n Additional reporting PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Record August temperatures are expected to be reported in a number of countries globally after a summer of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-611340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Visitors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0024ef9d-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPeople seen cooling off at Kartavya Path in New Delhi, India, earlier this summer<\/p>\n
What is El Ni\u00f1o and why is it generating so much attention?<\/a>
Australia declares possible strongest El Ni\u00f1o pattern in decades<\/a><\/p>\n![\"getty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0024ef98-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPeople use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun during England’s heatwave last month<\/p>\n![\"Personnel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0024ef95-614.jpg\"\/)
\nFire personnel work to extinguish a peatland fire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, Indonesia<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0024ef7c-614.jpg\"\/)
\nA group of fishermen clean fish to sell at the Port of Callao in Callao, Peru, earlier this summer<\/p>\n