France has recorded around 1 000 excess deaths since June 24, 2026 as an exceptional heatwave swept across the country, with 85% of the deaths involving people aged 65 and older, according to preliminary figures released by France’s Public Health Agency (SPF). The agency warned the data remain preliminary and are expected to increase as additional mortality reports are received.
Germany provisionally recorded its highest air temperature on record on June 26, 2026 as an exceptional late-June heatwave continued to rewrite temperature records across Europe, prompting widespread red heat warnings, disrupting public life and raising concerns over growing impacts on health, infrastructure and ecosystems.
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) placed much of the Netherlands under its first-ever Code Red warning for extreme heat on Friday after forecasting oppressive conditions, heat stress levels of 9 to 10 and temperatures reaching up to 40°C (104°F) in isolated locations.
Temperatures reached 36.7°C (98.1°F) at Merryfield, Somerset, on June 25, 2026, provisionally making it the hottest June day on record in the United Kingdom, according to the UK Met Office. The agency also reported new provisional June records in Wales and record-equalling heat in Northern Ireland.
Extreme heat continued to spread across Europe on June 24, 2026, prompting widespread red alerts and health warnings across Europe. The prolonged heatwave driven by a strong upper-level ridge is affecting much of Western, Central, and Southern Europe, with temperatures forecast to remain 3 to 10°C (5.4 to 18°F) above seasonal averages and locally exceed 40°C (104°F) through the end of June.
A humanitarian doctor returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo tested positive for Ebola in France on June 24, 2026, marking the country’s first confirmed imported case linked to the current outbreak.
Severe thunderstorms damaged more than 150 buildings in Slovenia on June 10, 2026, before the same weather system moved into northern Croatia overnight into June 11, bringing damaging wind, hail, and heavy rainfall.
Spain recorded 101 heat-related deaths during May 2026, making it the deadliest May since national monitoring began in 2015, while health authorities warned that heat extremes are arriving earlier in the year and increasing mortality risks across the country.
An IF2 tornado damaged at least 18 structures, including 11 residential buildings, near the village of Balcarzowice in Opole Voivodeship, Poland, on May 30, 2026. Two homes were completely destroyed.
A new study found that 335 million ha (828 million ha) burned worldwide in 2025, the second-lowest global wildfire total since 2002 and 16% below the long-term average. Despite that, 2025 became the costliest year on record for insured wildfire losses globally, with more than 300 000 evacuations and over 90 fatalities linked to major fires in Canada, the United States, Europe, and South Korea.
