Scientists link stronger and longer heat waves to climate change. Europe continues to assess a severe late June heat wave that experts rank among the most extreme on record, comparable to the unusual 2003 event. Temperature records fell across the continent as hundreds of millions faced extreme conditions that led to school closures, transport disruptions and numerous fatalities. A heat dome held hot air from North Africa over the Iberian Peninsula in late June, extending to the United Kingdom before easing over central and eastern Europe in early July. Comparisons to 2003 emerged quickly as the June event grew intense. That earlier heat wave lasted two weeks and caused tens of thousands of excess deaths. Duration, intensity and geographic reach serve as key measures of severity. The recent episode proved shorter than 2003 but produced many new temperature records in June. France’s weather service described the 14-day period as more intense than 2003, though two days briefer, with temperatures above 40°C recorded 114 times. The UK Met Office noted the event as one of the most significant in recent decades due to sustained heat, high humidity and warm nights. World Weather Attribution described it as the most severe based on average peak temperatures and stated such conditions would have been nearly impossible without climate change. Germany’s weather service called the episode historic, noting no prior long and intense heat wave so early in summer. The Czech Republic saw the longest June heat wave on record, while the Netherlands ranked it sixth. More than two-thirds of Europeans, covering areas home to about 410 million people, experienced temperatures above 35°C. France, Spain and Italy saw the highest shares. Excess deaths rose sharply, with France reporting over 2,000 additional fatalities, Spain over 1,000 heat-related deaths, Belgium 1,222 excess deaths and the Netherlands around 480 more than expected. New national records fell in several countries, including all-time highs in Germany, Poland and others, plus June records in the UK, France and Switzerland.
