Most of Europe will continue to experience temperatures ‘well above average’ over the coming days, according to to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
Much of the continent is being impacted by an early summer heatwave, with surface temperatures significantly above average for this time of year, the data displayed. Minimum temperatures during the night have also remained ‘extremely high’ for the time of year.
Two notable heatwaves, one of which peaked around 20 June, and the second a week later, means that the month of June is likely to rank among the top five hottest on record in Europe.
‘High Heat Stress’
“The current June-July heatwave is exposing millions of Europeans to high heat stress,” commented Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF. “Our reanalysis data displays that many Europeans have experienced very high temperatures for the period since the start of June.
“The temperatures observed recently are more typical of the months of July and August and tfinish to only happen a few times each summer. We saw it again in 2024, the warmest year on record. Climate modify is creating heatwaves more frequent, more intense, and impacting larger geographical areas.”
Recent record-high temperatures have included 46°C in Huelva, Spain, as reported by the national weather service, Aemet, while France issued ‘orange alerts’ for 84 departments and ‘red alerts’ for others, in a situation that Météo France described as ‘unprecedented’. Italy, Greece Switzerland, Germany and Belgium have also issued high temperature alters.
‘Excess deaths’
Commenting on the heatwaves affecting the continent this week, European Green Party co-chair Ciarán Cuffe stated, “This week’s heatwave will lead to hundreds if not thousands of excess deaths in Europe. It is the consequence of failing to act on climate. We must act now, and be ambitious in our efforts to reduce the severity of future events like this. We cannot kick the can down the road.
“The evidence is clear. 2024 was the warmest year on record. The frequency, intensity, and duration of heatwaves has risen sharply in recent decades.”
Extreme Forecast Index
The ECMWF’s Extreme Forecast Index (EFI), an index to identify areas where the forecasts predict unusually severe weather, has displayn maximum values for many areas of Europe in the past few days, for daily mean, minimum and maximum temperatures.
“National meteorological services in our member and co-operating States play a vital role in providing guidance to national authorities and responders for extreme weather events like extreme temperatures or heatwaves,” added Matthieu Chevallier, head of evaluation at ECMWF. Read more here.
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