Oceans hit record July heat as Western Europe swelters

The world’s oceans reached their hottest July temperature on record as Western Europe endured its hottest June and July, the European Union’s climate monitoring service said, linking the extremes to developing El Niño conditions, persistent high-pressure systems and human-driven climate change.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said the average sea surface temperature outside the polar regions, between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south, was 20.96C in July. That surpassed the previous July record of 20.89C, set in 2023.

Sea temperatures remained exceptionally high across much of the tropical Pacific, where El Niño conditions are developing and are forecast to strengthen in the coming months. El Niño is a natural weather pattern in the Pacific, but when combined with human-driven global warming it can drive temperature spikes and more extreme weather.

Copernicus said July was the joint second-warmest July globally on record, with temperatures 1.47C above the estimated pre-industrial average. The world is now about 1.4C warmer on average than it was in the late 19th century, the BBC reported.

Around Europe, sea surface temperatures reached record highs along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, contributing to widespread strong and severe marine heatwaves. Oceans regulate the climate by absorbing most of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions and producing half of Earth’s oxygen. Warmer waters absorb less carbon dioxide, leaving more planet-warming gas in the atmosphere, and can harm marine ecosystems as species move in search of cooler waters, disrupting food chains.

Western Europe’s average temperature for June and July reached 21.62C, 2.79C above average and higher than the previous record set in 2022, Copernicus said. The service described the pattern as “the exceptional persistence of heat” this summer.

“July 2026 was the third consecutive month of exceptional heat in western Europe, bringing the combined temperature for June and July to a new record for the region,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. “Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over Western Europe. The extreme temperatures also amplified widespread drought. As soils dry out, they lose their ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to build more readily. This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another.”

France, Spain, parts of Germany and the United Kingdom recorded exceptionally low rainfall and/or soil moisture. Copernicus said soil moisture across much of Western Europe was significantly lower than in 2022, when the region experienced severe drought.

River levels have also fallen far below average, with the Seine, Rhine and Danube among those particularly affected. Low flows are increasing pressure on water supplies and irrigation, aquatic ecosystems, river transport and energy production. Al Jazeera reported that the conditions led Hungary and Slovenia to operate their only nuclear power plants at reduced capacity.

The heat and drought have helped fuel major wildfires. Copernicus reported “exceptional activity” in terms of area burned, smoke and emissions. Al Jazeera reported that a megafire in southwestern France’s Gironde department burned nearly 42,000 hectares and forced more than 220,000 people to evacuate in late July, while Spain’s largest wildfire in recent history scorched almost 44,000 hectares in Avila province near Madrid.

“Climate change is increasingly bringing the kinds of hot and dry conditions that favour large, high-intensity wildfires in southern Europe while extending the fire season northwards,” said Laurence Rouil, director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Larger fires can push smoke higher into the atmosphere, allowing it to travel farther and affect air quality in other countries, Copernicus said.

In the UK, prolonged dry weather is increasing pressure on water supplies. England and Wales recorded their driest July since records began 190 years ago, according to the Met Office, and large parts of England and all of Wales have already been officially declared in drought. The Environment Agency has warned that more areas of England could be declared in drought if dry conditions persist.