According to C3S the average temperatures were higher than 2 degrees Celsius above normal, and as a whole in Europe the month had temperatures that were 1 degree Celsius above the previous high of June in 1999.
Europe experienced a 5 day heat wave due to a mass of hot air coming from the Saharan Desert; at the end of the month during the heatwave temperatures were 6-10 degrees above average in France, Germany, and the Czech Republic, all 3 countries experienced the highest temperatures for the month of June and France saw the highest temperatures in its history.
While the unseasonably warm weather can’t be directly attributed to climate change, the increased atmospheric greenhouse gas levels have made extreme weather events such as heat waves more common, these changes have made Europe’s most recent heat wave 5 times more likely to happen, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“We knew June was hot in Europe, but this study shows that temperature records haven’t just been broken. They have been obliterated. This is the hottest June on record in Europe by a country mile, and the warmest June we have ever seen globally.” Professor Hannah Cloke, natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading.
This past month India has suffered one of the hottest and longest heat waves in recent history, as of June 19th the death toll had reached 36 with hundreds more being admitted to hospitals due to heatstroke as the region has experienced more than 30 days of consecutive scorch. Temperatures were so oppressive people were advised to avoid going outside after 11AM.
As pollution and greenhouse gas levels worsen predictions about heat waves and weather extremes will most likely continue to come to fruition and people will possibly have to deal with hotter even more record breaking temperatures, which may even become the norm.
Jean-Noël Thépaut, Head of C3S, comments: “Although local temperatures may have been lower or higher than those forecast, our data show that the temperatures over the southwestern region of Europe during the last week of June were unusually high. Although this was exceptional, we are likely to see more of these events in the future due to climate change.”
