The past summer was the third warmest on record for Europe, with record-breaking temperatures across Western Europe.

Omissions

• The ranking is relative to the full instrumental record: summer 2026 was third warmest for Europe behind summer 2024 and summer 2022.
• The 'record-breaking temperatures' were geographically concentrated: western Europe had its warmest summer on record, but for European land as a whole July 2026 was only the eleventh warmest July on record (20.49°C, 0.66°C above the 1991–2020 average), so the continental third-place ranking was driven mainly by June and August.
• Copernicus is the EU's own Earth observation programme, so the figure is an official EU statistic published before the session date (early September 2026), meaning the MEP could have known it.

Sources

• PrimaryCopernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) — 'August was the world's joint hottest month on record' climate bulletinSummer 2026 (June to August) was the third warmest on record for Europe, behind 2024 and 2022. Western Europe experienced its warmest summer on record.
• PrimaryCopernicus Climate Change Service — 'Record heat stress and low river flows marked Europe's 2026 summer'Persistent and exceptional heat across Europe has led to the continent's third warmest summer on record, and warmest on record for western Europe.
• PrimaryCopernicus Climate Change Service — 'European summer 2026: records, extremes and context'The Review provides an overview of the climate conditions that characterised the European summer of 2026, bringing together key variables and indices, including daily mean surface air temperature averaged over western Europe from January to September 2026.
• SecondaryIrish Examiner — 'More than 80% of Europe experienced strong heat stress'... Europe" made it the continent's third-warmest summer on record and the warmest on record for western Europe. By the end of summer, 52% of Europe ...