A summer counted in waves

From May 1 to August 19, 2026, Europe's summer can be counted as five heat waves. NASA's account says the fifth was underway by mid-August and pushed temperatures beyond 40 degrees Celsius across a broad area. In a season advancing wave by wave, the sequence matters alongside the peak.[1]

The first milestones arrived early. London reached 35.1 degrees Celsius on May 26, surpassing its previous May record by 2.3 degrees. Bordeaux followed at 42.5 degrees Celsius on June 24. Two dates, less than a month apart, marked how quickly exceptional heat moved through the calendar.[1]

Western Europe's combined June and July temperatures were the highest on record. In August, Slovakia set national records for both daytime and nighttime highs. The measures use different clocks—two months in one case, day and night in the other—yet they place exceptional heat across more than one place and hour.[1]

Two views of the same heat

NASA's animation combines satellite observations with temperatures predicted by the GEOS global model to show daily maximum surface air temperature. Its darkest red areas mark 40 degrees Celsius or more. The page discusses ECOSTRESS surface-temperature observations separately, extending the view from a continental animation toward the thermal patterns of cities.[1]

Preliminary reports suggest that the heat may have been associated with about 10,000 excess deaths. Both cautions belong beside the number: the reports are preliminary, and the association remains tentative. The estimate measures the possible human shadow of the season while leaving its final outline unresolved.[1]

Cooling capacity is distributed unevenly. About 23 per cent of European homes have air conditioning, compared with about 90 per cent in the United States. NASA attributes the view that air conditioning is especially critical for Europe in the short term to New York University researcher Anamika Shreevastava. From orbit, heat appears as a moving field of red; at home, it becomes a question of who can cool a room. Those two views belong together.[1]