June was hottest ever recorded on Earth, European satellite agency announces

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded, the EU‘s satellite agency has announced.

Data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the EU, showed that the global average temperature for June 2019 was the highest on record for the month.

The data showed European average ​temperatures were more than 2C above normal and temperatures were 6-10C above normal over most of France, Germany and northern Spain during the final days of the month, according to C3S.

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The global average temperature was about 0.1C higher than during the previous warmest June in 2016.

Experts have said climate change made last week’s record-breaking European heatwave at least five times as likely to happen, according to recent analysis.

Shape Created with Sketch. Europe seeks relief in scorching Saharan heatwave: In pictures Show all 30 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Europe seeks relief in scorching Saharan heatwave: In pictures 1/30 A zookeeper sprays water on Asian elephants at the Berlin Zoo on 25 June EPA 2/30 People cool off in a swimming pool in Hannover, Germany on 25 June AFP/Getty 3/30 A woman sits on a lawn chair in Lake Wanasee in Berlin on 25 June AFP/Getty 4/30 An orangutan takes shelter from the sun under a blanket at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienaa on 25 June AP 5/30 Visitors shelter from the heat under the Umbrella Sky Project, an art installation in Aix-en-Provence, France on 28 June AFP/Getty 6/30 A model boat drives past a couple as they bathe in a lake in Ertingen, Germany on 26 June AP 7/30 A personal care worker visits the home of an elderly person to help him avoid heatstroke and dehydration during the heatwave in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The heat watch system has been implemented in France, meaning that vulnerable people will have increased access to aid for heat-related ailments AFP/Getty 8/30 A zookeeper applies sun cream to a tapir at the Serengeti Park in Hanover, Germany on 26 June AFP/Getty 9/30 One motorist in Brandenburg, Germany was stopped by police on account of his tactic for keeping cool on 25 June Brandenburg Police 10/30 A German Police helicopter pours water over a forest fire near Lieberoser Heide in Germany on 25 June Reuters 11/30 Children jump into the water of Lake Geneva to cool off in Lutry, Switzerland on 25 June AP 12/30 Parisians cool off in the fountains at the Trocadero Esplanade on 24 June AP 13/30 A polar bear cools off in the Gelsenkirchen zoo in western Germany on 25 June AFP/Getty 14/30 A woman plays in the in the fountains at the Trocadero Esplanade on 24 June AFP/Getty 15/30 Children play in Lake Walensee in Switzerland on the evening of 25 June EPA 16/30 A refreshments table of water and syrups is laid out at an old folks home in Le Bouscat, France. Due to the heat, extra care provisions are available for the vulnerable in France Reuters 17/30 A meerkat reaches for frozen food at the Berlin Zoo on 25 June AFP/Getty 18/30 People ride down the Old Danube in Vienna on 25 June AFP/Getty 19/30 A boy plunges into a swimming pool in Essen, Germany on 25 June AFP/Getty 20/30 A pigeon drinks from a fountain in Mulhouse, France on 25 June AFP/Getty 21/30 Parisians rest in the shade down by the Seine on 26 June AP 22/30 A boy jumps into the canal near Reims in northeastern France on 25 June AFP/Getty 23/30 People bathe at Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark on 25 June EPA 24/30 A walrus feeds on an ice cake filled with frozen fish as her baby looks on i Hamburg Zoo, Germany on 26 June AFP/Getty 25/30 Children play in a fountain in Nice, France on 26 June AFP/Getty 26/30 A couple steers an electric boat down the Old Danube in Vienna on 25 June AFP/Getty 27/30 A polar bear cools off at the Hamburg Zoo in Germany AP 28/30 A woman cools of in a water fountain on 26 June AFP/Getty 29/30 People lounge on the shore of the Baths of Paquis in Genevs on 25 June EPA 30/30 People enjoy the weather in Lake Walensee in Switzerland on 25 June EPA 1/30 A zookeeper sprays water on Asian elephants at the Berlin Zoo on 25 June EPA 2/30 People cool off in a swimming pool in Hannover, Germany on 25 June AFP/Getty 3/30 A woman sits on a lawn chair in Lake Wanasee in Berlin on 25 June AFP/Getty 4/30 An orangutan takes shelter from the sun under a blanket at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienaa on 25 June AP 5/30 Visitors shelter from the heat under the Umbrella Sky Project, an art installation in Aix-en-Provence, France on 28 June AFP/Getty 6/30 A model boat drives past a couple as they bathe in a lake in Ertingen, Germany on 26 June AP 7/30 A personal care worker visits the home of an elderly person to help him avoid heatstroke and dehydration during the heatwave in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The heat watch system has been implemented in France, meaning that vulnerable people will have increased access to aid for heat-related ailments AFP/Getty 8/30 A zookeeper applies sun cream to a tapir at the Serengeti Park in Hanover, Germany on 26 June AFP/Getty 9/30 One motorist in Brandenburg, Germany was stopped by police on account of his tactic for keeping cool on 25 June Brandenburg Police 10/30 A German Police helicopter pours water over a forest fire near Lieberoser Heide in Germany on 25 June Reuters 11/30 Children jump into the water of Lake Geneva to cool off in Lutry, Switzerland on 25 June AP 12/30 Parisians cool off in the fountains at the Trocadero Esplanade on 24 June AP 13/30 A polar bear cools off in the Gelsenkirchen zoo in western Germany on 25 June AFP/Getty 14/30 A woman plays in the in the fountains at the Trocadero Esplanade on 24 June AFP/Getty 15/30 Children play in Lake Walensee in Switzerland on the evening of 25 June EPA 16/30 A refreshments table of water and syrups is laid out at an old folks home in Le Bouscat, France. Due to the heat, extra care provisions are available for the vulnerable in France Reuters 17/30 A meerkat reaches for frozen food at the Berlin Zoo on 25 June AFP/Getty 18/30 People ride down the Old Danube in Vienna on 25 June AFP/Getty 19/30 A boy plunges into a swimming pool in Essen, Germany on 25 June AFP/Getty 20/30 A pigeon drinks from a fountain in Mulhouse, France on 25 June AFP/Getty 21/30 Parisians rest in the shade down by the Seine on 26 June AP 22/30 A boy jumps into the canal near Reims in northeastern France on 25 June AFP/Getty 23/30 People bathe at Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark on 25 June EPA 24/30 A walrus feeds on an ice cake filled with frozen fish as her baby looks on i Hamburg Zoo, Germany on 26 June AFP/Getty 25/30 Children play in a fountain in Nice, France on 26 June AFP/Getty 26/30 A couple steers an electric boat down the Old Danube in Vienna on 25 June AFP/Getty 27/30 A polar bear cools off at the Hamburg Zoo in Germany AP 28/30 A woman cools of in a water fountain on 26 June AFP/Getty 29/30 People lounge on the shore of the Baths of Paquis in Genevs on 25 June EPA 30/30 People enjoy the weather in Lake Walensee in Switzerland on 25 June EPA

Rapid assessment of average temperatures in France between 26-28 June showed a “substantial” increase in the likelihood of the heatwave happening as a result of human-caused global warming, experts at the World Weather Attribution group said.

The recent heatwave saw France record the hottest temperature in the country’s history (45.9C) and major wildfires across Spain, where temperatures exceeded 40C.

Germany, Poland and Czech Republic also recorded their highest temperatures for June last week.

C3S admitted it is difficult to directly link the heatwave to climate change but noted that such extreme weather events are expected to become more common due to global warming.

Jean-Noel Thepaut, head of C3S, said: ”Although local temperatures may have been lower or higher than those forecast, our data shows that the temperatures over the southwestern region of Europe during the last week of June were unusually high.

“Although this was exceptional, we are likely to see more of these events in the future due to climate change.”

Peter Stott, an expert in analysing the role of climate change in extreme weather​ at the Met Office, claimed that “a similarly extreme heatwave 100 years ago would have likely been around 4C cooler”.

Spikes in European average temperatures of more than 1C above normal have occurred before, such as in 1917 and 1999, but C3S said the recent heatwave was notable because the sudden increase came on top of a general rise of around 1.5C in European temperature over the past 100 years.

In response to the record-breaking heat, Professor Hannah Cloke, natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, said: “We knew June was hot in Europe, but this study shows that temperature records haven’t just been broken. They have been obliterated.

“This is the hottest June on record in Europe by a country mile, and the warmest June we have ever seen globally.

“Heatwaves occur in any climate, but we know that heatwaves are becoming much more likely due to climate change. The global climate just keeps getting hotter, as greenhouse gases continue to build up, as scientists have predicted for decades.”

However, she added: “Rapid attempts to find links between climate change and single extreme weather events are possible, but often come with many caveats. We should be careful not to ignore these caveats when we look at the conclusions of quick-turnaround attribution studies.”

*A previous headline on this story suggested June was the hottest month ever recorded. Instead, it was the hottest June ever recorded. The headline and article have been amended to reflect this.