Temperatures regularly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (ºC) in several countries and reached 46 ° C in Spain and Portugal
The last month of June was the hottest that there is registration in Western Europe, with extreme temperatures to reach the continent in two consecutive heat waves, the copernicus European service announced on Wednesday.
June was marked by two heat waves in the region – between June 17 and 22, and from June 30 – “exceptional,” noted Samantha Burgess, a climatologist at the European Union’s Climate Program Monitoring Service.
In the context of global warming, “these heat waves will probably be more frequent, more intense and will increasingly affect people in Europe,” Burgess emphasized in a press release.
Temperatures regularly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (ºC) in several countries and reached 46 ° C in Spain and Portugal.
June 30, a new monthly daily record, was “one of the hottest summer days there is a record” on the continent, the statement said.
According to the thermal sensation, which measures the impact on the human body taking into account moisture and wind, north of Lisbon, the universal thermal climate index reached 48 ° C, which corresponds to “extreme thermal stress”, pointed out Copernicus.
June was also marked by a widening wave in the western Mediterranean, with sea surface temperatures ranging from the beginning of the month, reaching an average record of 27 ° C on June 30.
“These exceptional temperatures of Mediterranean water reduced the night’s night cooling along the back and increased moisture, thus exacerbating the effects of thermal stress,” said the Copernicus.
Globally, last month was the hottest June third, just behind June 2024 (which was 0.2 ° C hotter) and almost at the same level (0.06 ° C) June 2023.
According to the calculations of the France-Presse news agency, based on copernicus data, 12 countries and about 790 million people worldwide lived the hottest June ever. This was the case of Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan and Tajiquistan.
In April, a joint report from Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (OMM) said that almost half of Europe recorded annual record temperatures by 2024 and 60% of the continent there were more days than the average with at least “strong thermal stress” due to heat.
The document said that the number of days with strong, very strong and extreme thermal stress was “the second highest ever registered.”
Regarding extreme weather conditions, the study reported forest fires in Portugal, which in September 2024 burned about 110,000 hectares (1,100 square kilometers) in a week, which represents about a quarter of Europe’s annual total area in Europe.
