The contiguous United States recorded its warmest July ever, surpassing previous record-setting temperatures from 1936 and 2012. Every state ranked in the warmest third of their historical records, with national rainfall in the driest third of the 132-year record at 2.55 inches.
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Record heat and drought grip Europe, with July the UK's driest month on record and water restrictions introduced across several countries. Extreme heat disrupted nuclear power generation in France and Hungary, while grain harvest losses are estimated at €2 billion and heat-related deaths approached 20,000.
Global ocean surface temperatures reached a record high for July at 20.96°C as developing El Niño conditions drove exceptionally warm waters, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Monday. The figure beat the previous July record of 20.89°C set in 2023, with record sea surface temperatures along Europe's Atlantic and western Mediterranean coasts and Western Europe recording its hottest June-July period on record.
Hong Kong's temperature reached 36.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday afternoon, the highest since the city began keeping meteorological records in 1884, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. The observatory attributed the heat to subsiding air on the periphery of Typhoon Dolphin, which made landfall in Zhejiang Province on China's eastern coast on Sunday afternoon.
Lake Maggiore is suffering from drought and Switzerland is increasing releases from Lake Lugano. Water is also scarce in Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and the Marche: this is Italy's new emergency.
Extreme heat and drought are intensifying across Europe and the UK, hitting agriculture, energy and transport while threatening economic growth. The UK's 2026 harvest season is projected to be the worst ever, while the EU economy is expected to lose around 1%, potentially wiping out over $200B in growth this year.
A late 2026 summer monsoon gave the Great Barrier Reef a reprieve from unfolding coral bleaching, with an Australian Institute of Marine Science annual survey released Tuesday showing coral cover rose or held steady across all three reef regions in the 2025/26 field season compared with the prior year.
Europe braces for another heatwave after record-breaking temperatures.
Kenya's Interior Ministry announced on Monday nationwide measures to counter potential El Nino impacts, releasing a response plan targeting 18 high-risk counties ahead of peak weather risks expected from September through December.
Britain was also facing its fifth heatwave of the 2026 summer that has seen multiple temperature records being broken.
Western Europe recorded its hottest June-July on record at 21.62C, beating the 2022 mark, according to the EU's global warming monitor.
The UK government has announced nearly £130 million ($175 million) in funding for zero-emission vehicle technologies. The UK has previously committed to ending sales of new petrol or diesel-powered cars from 2030 and requiring all new cars to be zero-emission by 2035.