{"id":498141,"date":"2026-06-27T11:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/498141\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:37:18","slug":"in-numbers-what-to-know-about-europes-record-breaking-heat-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/498141\/","title":{"rendered":"In numbers: What to know about Europe’s record-breaking heat wave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of western Europe has been baking under a \u201cheat dome\u201d<\/a> this week, with temperatures soaring<\/a> above 40 degrees celcius in many places.<\/p>\n

The extreme conditions have come in June, earlier in the summer than is usual. Records are tumbling by day and by night. Add in the humidity and it’s more tropical than temperate.<\/p>\n

The heat is coming up from north Africa and affecting Spain, France,<\/a> Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom \u2014 most of them without widespread air conditioning and unused to such oppressive heat.<\/p>\n

Conditions are expected to ease in coming days, though July and August, the traditional height of the European summer, are still to come.<\/p>\n

Here are some standout numbers that illustrate the depth and breadth of the heat wave:<\/p>\n

Dozens of people have died in record temperatures in Spain, Italy, the UK and France. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

43.8C <\/p>\n

The hottest temperature in France this week, recorded in the small southwestern town of Pissos on Wednesday (local time). <\/p>\n

327<\/p>\n

The estimated number of deaths in Spain that could be attributed to the heat wave between Sunday and Thursday, according to the Health Institute of Carlos III in Madrid, an official Spanish monitoring agency.<\/p>\n

Temperatures in Spain have exceeded 38C in many places since Sunday. The monitoring agency gives statistical estimates of excess mortality attributable to heat, but the heat wave cannot officially be determined as the cause of death. Researchers use models based on a decade of mortality records and temperature and demographic data to reach such estimates.<\/p>\n

41.3C<\/p>\n

The highest temperature ever recorded in Germany, set in Saarbruecken, near the French border, on Friday. That figure topped the previous record of 41.2C that was set on July 25, 2019.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A person cools off at Trocadero fountain near the Eiffel Tower during a heat wave in Paris. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

30C<\/p>\n

The average temperature measured at 30 French weather stations by the Meteo France weather agency on Wednesday. The agency said it was the first time ever the average has been that high, making Wednesday the hottest day in France on record.<\/p>\n

While the figure may seem low, it was measured day and night and shows this latest heat wave is much broader than others before. More than three-quarters of France have been placed under a red weather alert for the first time ever.<\/p>\n

37.3C <\/p>\n

The temperature recorded in Santon Downham, in Suffolk, England on Friday marked the hottest June day the country ever saw, according to Britain’s Met Office. Forecasters have extended a red alert for heat in much of central and southern England and Wales.<\/p>\n

35C<\/p>\n

The trigger for The Netherlands to issue its first ever code red warning for extreme heat. The code applies when the temperature is over 35C for several days. The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute said the highest possible alert was in effect for most of the country for all of Friday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A man drinks on Westminster Bridge in London, as a heat wave is predicted Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

At least 40<\/p>\n

That’s how many people have drowned in heat wave-related incidents in the past week in France, as people seek relief in rivers and other bodies of water despite authorities\u2019 warnings about unsupervised swimming. Most of the drownings involved young people, Prime Minister S\u00e9bastien Lecornu said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

43.7C<\/p>\n

The all-time record temperature recorded earlier this week in the small northern Spanish region of Cantabria, which is known for its cooler weather and green landscape. The current heat wave has affected Spain\u2019s normally more temperate northern regions along the Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much of western Europe has been baking under a \u201cheat dome\u201d this week, with temperatures soaring above 40…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39,1745],"class_list":["post-498141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}