A NASA Earth Observatory report published on August 21, 2026 described Western Europe's summer of 2026 as unusually severe, with a fifth heat wave underway by mid-August and temperatures widely exceeding 40°C (104°F). The report said heat often persisted for days or weeks and continued overnight. It linked the conditions to spikes in hospitalizations and heat-related deaths, buckled highways and rail tracks, destructive wildfires in areas where they were once rare, and worsened drought with record-low river levels that disrupted water and power supplies, transport and agriculture.

Citing the UK Met Office, the report said London reached 35.1°C (95.2°F) on May 26, breaking the previous May record by 2.3°C (4.1°F). It said Bordeaux, France, set a maximum-temperature record on three consecutive days in June, reaching 42.5°C on June 24, and that Slovakia set new national records for daytime and nighttime highs in August. Combined June and July temperatures in Western Europe were the highest on record, according to Copernicus, the European climate monitoring service.

The report said preliminary reports suggested heat may have been associated with 10,000 excess deaths, including thousands of people in the UK, France, Germany and Belgium. It cited International Energy Agency data showing 23 percent of European homes have air conditioning, compared with 90 percent in the United States. Researchers quoted in the report pointed to limited cooling access, high nighttime temperatures and sparse green space in some cities as factors in the health toll, and said Southern Europe faces growing heat exposure alongside an aging population.