Climate change has fueled a historic summer of heat, drought, and wildfires across Western Europe. The region's combined average temperature from June through July reached 21.62 degrees Celsius, surpassing the record set in 2022.
High temperature warnings are in place across western, central, and southern Europe as a heat dome intensifies across the continent. Large parts of Europe are also gripped by drought, which has left soils unusually dry and major rivers running low.
The highest average sea surface temperature ever recorded for July was observed across the extra-polar oceans, which are the oceans free of seasonal sea ice. Additionally, a strengthening El Nino could push global temperatures even higher later this year.