Record summer heat stress covers half of Europe, study finds
The Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that dangerous heat stress affected about 52 percent of Europe during May to August 2026, with 37 percent of land areas recording daily, monthly or seasonal temperature records. Four of western Europe's ten most severe heatwaves since 1950 occurred between late May and mid-August and were more intense than 2003. The period produced record-low summer flows across many major rivers, a 69 cubic kilometer shortfall in discharge across 12 systems, widespread grain and other crop losses, and drought on around 46 percent of European land, while attribution studies linked human-caused warming to stronger extremes.
Heat stress affected 52 percent of European land area.
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This summer had many extreme heat events across Europe. Rapid attribution studies found…
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