![\"Pedestrians](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pedestrians-cool-themselves-in-a-fountain-in-central-tirana-NFUEOUFRKRAFLPYGN2VYMPBSZ4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe heat waves roiling Western Europe this summer toppled an average temperature record for the June-July period set in 2022, according to the European climate agency Copernicus.<\/p>\n
The extreme heat began in May and has contributed to major wildfires, prolonged drought and new national temperature records across the region, as well as thousands of projected heat-related deaths.<\/p>\n
Globally, so far this is the third-hottest year, behind 2024 and 2025, climate statistics show. But 2026 still has time to catch up. <\/p>\n
Thanks to the one-two punch of accelerated human-caused global warming and a supersized El Ni\u00f1o, a periodic warming of parts of the Pacific that leads to temperature variations around the globe, there\u2019s an increasing chance that by the end of the year, 2026 could become the hottest year on record, beating out 2024 \u2014 or at least come close, scientists said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pedestrians cool themselves in a fountain in central Tirana, Albania, during a heatwave, July 25, 2025, (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Last month saw the highest average sea surface temperature ever recorded for July across the extra-polar oceans, or the oceans free of seasonal sea ice, Copernicus said.<\/p>\n
That was partially fueled by developing El Ni\u00f1o conditions in the equatorial Pacific, the service said. The new average record for July is 20.96 degrees Celsius, which beat the 2023 record of 20.89C.<\/p>\n
But last month\u2019s average surface air temperature globally was 16.90\u00b0C, making it only the joint second warmest July on record and tied with July 2024, Copernicus reported.<\/p>\n
![\"Race](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/france-and-spain-race-to-contain-huge-wildfires-before-new-h-BIJHBOJR6ZAQLFLQK3GPZJQOZY.png\")
<\/p>\n
France and Spain have been ravaged by wildfires in the hot, dry conditions. (Source: 39cdf4f6-3a61-4c92-b582-cb2fbce4260a)<\/p>\n
In Western Europe, meanwhile, the average temperature record for the June-July period hit 21.62\u00b0C, Copernicus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPersistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over western Europe, the extreme temperatures also amplified widespread drought. As soils dry out, they lose their ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to build more readily,\u201d said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.<\/p>\n
“This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The heat waves roiling Western Europe this summer toppled an average temperature record for the June-July period set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[278141,42,235473,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-565154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-extreme-heat-and-drought-take-a-toll-around-the-world","tag-headlines","tag-in-photos","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565154","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=565154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}