2022 declared Europe’s hottest summer on record

PARIS — The summer of 2022 was the hottest in Europe’s recorded history, with the continent baking in record-shattering heatwaves and the worst drought in centuries, the European Commission’s satellite monitor said on Thursday.

Scientists say heatwaves and droughts are becoming more frequent and more intense due to climate change.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said temperatures in Europe had been the “highest on record for both the month of August and the summer (June-August) as a whole.”

Data showed August was the hottest yet recorded on the continent by a “substantial margin,” beating the previous record set in August 2021 by 0.4 degrees Celsius.

“An intense series of heatwaves across Europe, paired with unusually dry conditions, have led to a summer of extremes with records in terms of temperature, drought and fire activity in many parts of Europe, affecting society and nature in various ways,” said senior C3S scientist Freja Vamborg.

“Data shows that we’ve not only had record August temperatures for Europe but also for summer, with the previous summer record only being one year old.”

This photo provided by the fire brigade of the Gironde region (SDIS 33) shows a wildfire near Landiras, southwestern France, July 17, 2022. (SDIS 33 via AP)

On a global level, August 2022 was the joint warmest August on record.

The average temperature was 0.3ºC higher than the 1991-2020 average for the month, the monitor said.