This is demonstrated by research from World Weather Attribution, which analyzed climate data from 854 cities in 30 European countries.
The World Weather Attribution, an organization that brings together various universities from around the world studying the impact of the climate crisis on the planet and society, has published an analysis on the heatwave affecting Europe since mid-June. The conclusion is stated without any concession to ambiguity: “This event would not have been possible in June without climate change,” said to Euronews Theodore Keeping from Imperial College London, the lead author of the study.
Across the analyzed area, the heatwave of the last two weeks has been the worst ever recorded. In 1976, when some of the previous European records were set, the temperatures reached in 2026 would have been virtually impossible to even approach in June. In 2003, the year of the first major heatwave of this century, daytime heat like the current one would have been about ten times less likely, while nighttime temperatures would have been more than a hundred times less likely. In numbers: if a heatwave with characteristics similar to this week’s had occurred in the climate of June 1976, there would have been 3.5 degrees Celsius less. In 2003, the temperature would have been about 2 degrees lower.
Between France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and southern England, recorded temperatures have been between 5 and 12 degrees above seasonal averages, peaks that can be explained by the presence of the omega block on the continent (we already talked about it here). The analysis by WWA examined 854 cities in 30 European countries and found that almost half have broken or will break their “heat stress” records for the month of June. The risk is particularly high, as we know, in cities, where the effects of the urban heat island, construction, and socioeconomic inequalities combine to worsen an already emergency situation. Many homes, schools, transportation systems, and energy infrastructures were not designed for prolonged exposure to extreme heat, and they are paying the consequences.
“Science has no doubts that the climate crisis is contributing to making heatwaves worse,” said Keeping. Friederike Otto from Imperial College London, co-founder of WWA, was even more direct: “Scientists like me are starting to sound like a broken record. Every year we publish similar statements reacting to increasingly high heat extremes. Yes, it’s climate change, yes it’s our fault, no it’s not El Niño’s fault, yes we have solutions, no we are not implementing them fast enough.” Yet, in the face of this data, a significant portion of the population denies or minimizes, supported by political representatives who speak of “unnecessary alarmism.” June, it is worth remembering, is not even historically the hottest month in Western Europe. It has become so, but only because we still do not know what will happen in July and August.
For the first time since the Middle Ages, there are more forests than agricultural fields in the area, says the National Union of Municipalities, Communities, and Mountain Entities.
