Status: 08.09.2022 1:21 pm
The old record only held for one year – according to the European Union Climate Change Service, the summer of 2022 was the warmest on record in Europe. It was also exceptionally dry across most of the continent.
The summer months from June to August were the warmest in Europe on record. Over the three months, the European Union’s climate change service, Copernicus, said the temperature was 0.4 degrees higher than previous peak values of 2018 and 2021. Looking at only August, the temperature was 0.8 degrees above previous highs.
The rise in temperature is more pronounced compared to the long-term average from 1991 to 2020 – accordingly, the period from June to August of this year was 1.34 degrees warmer. According to the data, the southwest of the continent was particularly affected.
Record of the second summer in a row
“A series of intense heat waves across Europe, along with unusually dry conditions, have led to extremely harsh summers with record temperatures, drought and wildfires in many parts of Europe (…),” said Copernican scientist Freya Famburg. It’s already the second record summer in a row.
August was generally drier than average in Western Europe and parts of the East. On the other hand, there was more precipitation than usual in the southeast of the continent, Greece, Turkey and large parts of Scandinavia.
Copernicus has records going back to 1979. There is also data from ground stations, balloons, planes, and satellites going back to 1950.
