Summer 2024 was Europe’s warmest on record, scientists say

This summer was the hottest ever recorded in Europe, even if it might not have felt that way in all parts of the Continent.

While northwestern regions saw temperatures close to or below average, southeastern areas registered record-breaking heat stress, the European Union’s Copernicus climate change service said on Thursday.

Human-driven climate change is pushing up temperatures across the globe, with Europe the fastest-warming continent. Overall air surface temperatures over the Continent’s land areas between June and August this year were 1.54 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 average, exceeding the previous record from summer 2022 by 0.2 C, Copernicus data shows.

Southeastern Europe experienced a record number of days with”strong” heat stress, meaning the perceived temperature, which takes into account factors like wind speed and humidity, was 32 C or above, on 66 days — or two-thirds of the three summer months. The average for the region is 29 days.

Some areas of Greece and Turkey dealt with these conditions every single summer day, reaching what’s called “very strong heat stress” of perceived temperatures above 38 C for around two months.

Regions in “much of southern and eastern Europe” also experienced very strong heat stress, and small parts of Spain and Turkey even saw “extreme” heat stress, equivalent to perceived temperatures of above 46 C, a level dangerous to human health.

In contrast, parts of northwestern Europe — including areas of Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom — experienced a cooler-than-average summer this year.

Data visualization by Giovanna Coi.