Temperatures Recorded Over the Past Three Days

• In France, temperatures have already reached 40°C.
• As of June 21, 35 départements, home to 26 million French residents, have been placed under red alert by Météo-France.
• Adding the 45 départements placed under orange alert, a total of 80 of mainland France’s 96 départements are experiencing extreme heat.
• Temperatures of 36°C have been recorded in southwestern Germany.
• Several regions of Spain have already exceeded 40°C.

Forecast for the Next Three Days

• On Monday, June 22, the heatwave will intensify in France, with minimum temperatures ranging between 20°C and 25°C, making nights difficult, and maximum temperatures between 40°C and 42°C in the départements under red alert.
• Germany could approach 38°C.
• Spain could experience peaks ranging from 42°C to 45°C.
• In the United Kingdom, the Met Office is forecasting temperatures of up to 38°C.

A Heatwave Consistent with Long-Term Warming

A Historically Warm Spring

According to Météo-France, with an average temperature of 13.8°C, spring 2026 was the warmest ever recorded in France since records began in 1900, with an anomaly of +1.7°C compared with seasonal averages. It surpassed spring 2011 (+1.5°C) and spring 2020 (+1.3°C).

Globally, May 2026 was the second warmest May ever recorded, behind May 2024, with an average temperature of 15.81°C, or +1.42°C above pre-industrial levels.

Europe, the Fastest-Warming Continent

With warming of +2.5°C compared with the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world.

Its warming is significantly greater than the global average, estimated at +1.4°C since the pre-industrial era.

Over the past thirty years, the global average temperature has increased by approximately 0.27°C per decade.

Europe is warming roughly twice as fast, with an average increase of 0.56°C per decade.

The world’s fastest-warming region is the Arctic, where temperatures are increasing by around 0.75°C per decade.

By contrast, the Australia–New Zealand region has remained relatively spared, with average warming of 0.23°C per decade.

Increasingly Severe Heatwaves

The cumulative magnitude of major heatwaves observed in Europe during the 2012-2021 decade was approximately 50% higher than during the previous decade (2002-2011), and nearly ten times greater than the average recorded between 1950 and 2001.

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Sources:
^{– Europe swelters | Sky News
– Why was the late-May heat episode unprecedented? | Météo-France
– 35 départements under red alert | Les Echos
– Weather alerts for June 21 and 22 | Météo-France
– Record temperatures on June 21 | Reuters
– https://meteofrance.com
– Heatwave alert in France | Reuters
– European heatwave | The Guardian
– https://www.aemet.es/es/eltiempo/prediccion/avisos
– May 2026 – Second warmest May on record | Météo-France
– Europe under extreme heat | Reuters
– https://www.aemet.es/es/eltiempo/prediccion/avisos
– https://www.metoffice.gov.uk
– Spring 2026 was the warmest on record | Météo-France
– Why Europe is warming so quickly | Copernicus
– Heatwaves | Wiley Online Library | AGU}