July 2026 was the second hottest July ever recorded in Western Europe. The average surface air temperature in the region was 22.48 °C, 2.53 °C above the 1991-2020 average, only slightly below the record set in July 2006.
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This is reported by the Copernicus Climate Change Service in its latest monthly climate bulletin.
The heatwave affected the region during the first half of July and again towards the end of the month.
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France recorded its hottest July ever, with an anomaly of +3.8 °C, adds the EU satellite center.
France and drought
According to the European Drought Observatory (EDO), by mid-July 2026 over 85% of the national territory was subject to drought alert or warning conditions, compared to about 65% in the same period in 2025 and less than 2% in 2024, a summer when drought was not widespread. These natural color images from Copernicus Sentinel-3 illustrate this contrast. In the image on the right, acquired on August 8, 2026, beige and ochre tones dominate the landscape from the Atlantic coast to the northern plains, while the greener areas are mostly limited to forests and mountainous zones. In the central image, acquired on August 12, 2025, light brown areas extend in the western part of the country and in the Paris basin. In the image on the left, acquired on August 11, 2024, green tones prevail, providing a clear reference point. The EDO, part of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), provides systematic and updated drought monitoring in Europe, supporting early warning, impact assessment, and water resource management decisions. ANSA/European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3 images
Aubac: Rome’s hottest summer in the last 25 years
The summer of 2026 in Rome is so far the hottest in the last 25 years. This emerges from the assessment of the period from June 1 to August 10, prepared by the Central Apennines District Basin Authority (Aubac) based on the 2002-2026 historical series of the Rome-Macao weather station, representative of the city center.
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