Hot June in Europe, thermometer above 35 degrees for 410 million people

Over two thirds of Europeans have experimented temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius during the heat wave of the period between 15 and 30 June.

The latest affected areas inhabited by around 410 million people in Europe, compared to the 320 million involved in the record heat wave recorded between 1 and 17 August 2003, based on calculations on data on maximum daily temperatures from the European Drought Observatory and demographic statistics from the Joint Research Center (JRC).

The most affected countries

This year’s heat wave caused thousands of deaths in several European countriesled to the closure of schools and music festivals and sparked political debates on whether governments should encourage greater diffusion of air conditioning. Almost the entire population of mainland France and more than three-quarters of Spain and Italy combined experienced temperatures above 35 degrees during the heat wave in June, which stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to Ukraine, crossing the Balkans and Germany. In the area surrounding the Spanish city of Lleida, in Catalonia, temperatures have exceeded 35 degrees for at least 16 consecutive days.

Historical temperature records

More generally, daily maximum temperatures exceeded 35 degrees for almost 50 million people across Europe on at least ten occasions during the heat wave: 18 million people in central and southern France, over 15 million in northeastern and southwestern Spain, and 12 million in northern Italy, mainly in the Po Valley. Temperatures reached such levels less frequently in central and eastern Europe: the 35 degree threshold was exceeded for no more than three days in Poland and for no more than four days in Ukraine. However, historic temperature records were broken in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, but also in the United Kingdom and Switzerland in June. In France, average temperatures reached record highs, in particular recording the hottest nights ever recorded in the country.