"Too Hot to Wear Clothes": Swimsuits in City Streets... 4,700 More Deaths in Western Europe

Record-Breaking June Temperatures for Two Consecutive Years
Average Temperature More Than 3 Degrees Higher Than Normal

It has been confirmed that Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record.

On July 9 (local time), Reuters reported that the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union's climate change monitoring agency, released its monthly report indicating that the average temperature in Western Europe last month was 20.74 degrees Celsius. C3S stated that this temperature is more than 3 degrees higher than the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020, making it the highest June temperature ever recorded in the region.

C3S classifies Western Europe as land between latitudes 37 to 55 degrees north and longitudes 11 degrees west to 15 degrees east, which includes parts of Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Austria.

On the 9th (local time), amid the continuing hot weather in Munich, Germany, citizens dressed in swimsuits gathered at a bus stop near the English Garden. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

In the English Garden in Munich, Germany, citizens are taking a break in the hot summer weather on the 9th (local time). Photo by EPA Yonhap News

The previous record for the highest average June temperature in Western Europe was set just last year at 20.49 degrees Celsius. With Western Europe breaking its average June temperature record for two consecutive years, there are growing interpretations that extreme heat in June is becoming the new norm.

Due to hot air coming in from North Africa and a heat dome that formed over the Atlantic Ocean, much of Western Europe—including France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany—endured a severe heatwave from June 20 to 28, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius for over a week. This led to disruptions in electricity supply, and schools with inadequate air conditioning facilities were forced to close. Wildfires and worsening droughts that spread in Spain and France during this period were also primarily attributed to the heatwave.

According to UK media reports on July 7, during last month’s heatwave in London, the floor temperature inside a Piccadilly line subway car reached as high as 40 degrees Celsius at one point. It was found that the deep-level lines—which constitute about 60% of the entire London Underground and are built deep underground—have no air-conditioned trains, making them particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.

There was also a surge in heat-related fatalities. During last month’s heatwave, excess deaths (the number of deaths above the normal level) in France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands totaled 4,700. Including other Western European countries, the number of deaths caused by the heatwave is estimated to be much higher.

On the 22nd (local time), companion dogs next to homeless people on the Champs-Élysées in Paris were sticking out their tongues, struggling with the heat. Photo by Yonhap News.

Samantha Burgess, Director of Strategy at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), warned, "Last month starkly demonstrated how fundamentally the Earth's climate is changing. Heatwaves are becoming more intense, the oceans are consistently warming, and the risks faced by people, ecosystems, and infrastructure in Europe and beyond are increasing."

C3S also noted that last month, global sea surface temperatures reached their highest level ever recorded for June, a phenomenon influenced by a strong El Nino event developing in the Pacific Ocean.

However, Reuters reported that while El Nino had little effect on last month's heatwave in Europe, post-event studies have confirmed that climate change played a clear role in worsening the heatwave.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.