Published Jun 27, 2026 | 5:25 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 27, 2026 | 5:34 PM
Europe is reeling from a heatwave that has highlighted how the world is warming up faster than we thought, say scientists. (iStock)
Synopsis: As half of Europe’s 850 biggest cities endure temperatures above 35°C in a climate-change-baked June, a new report hands out dire warnings for the world if immediate action is not taken.
Climate change is hitting the world hard and the deadly heatwave that has left most of Europe reeling is proof of what possibly lies in store in the coming years.
Baking-hot France has seen the death of four toddlers. Fifty-five drownings have also been reported in the country as people—particularly the young—tried to cool themselves off by swimming in unsupervised areas. There have also been viral videos of the long queues and rush for air conditioners and fans.
Such has the heat been that on May 30, the World’s No 1 tennis player Jannik Sinner had slumped to a shock five-set, second-round defeat at the French Open after leading 6-3, 6-2, 5-1—an outcome that many had attributed to temperatures on the Parisian clay crossing 32°C.
It wasn’t France alone.
News agency AFP reported that 150 million people across Europe were left to endure temperatures higher than 35°C on Friday. This included half of Europe’s 850 biggest cities.
The highest-ever temperature in Germany, which shares its border with France, was recorded provisionally at 41.3°C in the south-western city of Saarbrücken.
The Netherlands saw a high of 39.4°C, the United Kingdom a June record of 37°C and the Czech Republic over 40°C.
In Switzerland, temperatures shot up to a record-breaking 38°C at Basel. Over 30 stations in the country recorded temperatures over 35°C. Cinemas in Geneva offered free daytime screenings to senior citizens in a bid to give them a break. “The hotter it gets, the more the cinema becomes a place of refuge,” Reuters quoted one of the people overseeing the screenings as saying.
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Weather scientists, for their part, are flagging serious concerns.
The current heatwave in Europe remains “particularly remarkable given that June is not historically the hottest month in Western Europe. Across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and southern England, temperatures are reaching 5–12°C above seasonal averages, driven by a persistent high-pressure system,” scientists at the World Weather Attribution stated in a report.
“This event would not have been possible in June without climate change,” the study’s lead author, Theodore Keeping from Imperial College, London, emphatically told reporters.
“Across large parts of Western Europe, June is warming faster than any other month. In addition, daily maximum temperatures are warming faster than nighttime temperatures, though both are warming much faster than global warming. The hottest daily temperatures are warming at about triple the rate of global warming and nighttime temperatures at about twice the rate,” the report Keeping’s team produced noted with concern.
There was a further stark warning. “This summer shows that at 1.4°C of global warming, extreme heat is already reaching the limits of our societies’ ability to cope,” the scientists highlighted.
World Weather Attribution said the heat crisis in Europe must underline the critical importance of immediately phasing out fossil fuels to “avoid even higher temperatures and their consequences in the future.”
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
