Europe’s Hottest June on Record: Temperatures 3°C Above Normal

June 2026 was the hottest June ever recorded in Western Europe, according to new data from the EU’s climate monitoring service, Copernicus. Average temperatures in the region were 3.05°C above the normal baseline. Globally, it was the second warmest June on record. The report, published Thursday, also shows that Scandinavia, Iceland, and the United Kingdom received more rainfall than usual last month. Arctic sea ice was 5% below average—the sixth lowest June measurement—with the biggest decline in the Barents Sea near Svalbard. Norway’s Climate and Environment Minister, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, said the country will face more heatwaves in the years ahead. “The heatwaves sweeping across Europe show that climate change is happening here and now. And it is happening much faster in Europe than in the rest of the world. Extreme heat is serious and costs human lives,” he wrote in a message to public broadcaster NRK. “In Norway, we will also see more heatwaves and more health damage in the future as a result of climate change,” he added.