- Published
The world's oceans hit their hottest ever recorded temperatures for July, partly fuelled by developing El Niño conditions in the Pacific, according to the EU's climate monitoring service.
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oceans → publish → service
The average sea surface temperature (SST) outside the world's polar regions - between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south - was 20.96C last month, beating the previous high of 20.89C, set in 2023.
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temperature → beat → 2023
Last month was the joint second-warmest July globally on record, with temperatures 1.47C above the estimated pre-industrial average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
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month → estimate → Service
Meanwhile, Western Europe experienced its hottest ever June and July, with prolonged hot and dry conditions fuelling extreme wildfires across the region.
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conditions → experience → region
Elsewhere, the UK is braced for its fifth heatwave of the year this week, as persistent dry weather puts further pressure on water supplies and could see more areas officially declared in drought.
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areas → brace → drought
Around Europe, sea surface temperatures in July reached record highs along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, contributing to widespread strong and severe marine heatwaves.
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temperatures → reach → heatwaves
Sea temperatures remained exceptionally high across much of the tropical Pacific, where El Niño conditions are developing and forecast to strengthen in the coming months.
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conditions → remain → months
El Niño is a natural weather pattern in the Pacific that combined with human-driven global warming can cause temperature spikes and more extreme weather.
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combined → combine → spikes
Oceans are a vital regulator of the climate, absorbing most of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions and producing half of Earth's oxygen.
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Oceans → absorb → oxygen
As seawater warms it expands, and this thermal expansion accounts for roughly a third of sea level rise recorded by scientists to date.
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expansion → warm → date
That water encroaches on low-lying coasts and island nations.
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water → encroach → coasts
Hotter seas are also driving longer and fiercer marine heatwaves, which have bleached coral reefs on a mass scale and decimated kelp forests and fisheries.
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which → drive → forests
Warmer ocean surfaces also evaporate more heat and moisture into the air, intensifying tropical storms and loading them with heavier rainfall.
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surfaces → evaporate → rainfall
'Climate change is intensifying heat extremes'
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change → intensify → extremes
Western Europe is experiencing an exceptional run of extreme heat - with record-breaking temperatures in June and July, and some areas facing their third or fourth heat wave since May.
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areas → experience → May
"July 2026 was the third consecutive month of exceptional heat in western Europe," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
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Burgess → say → Forecasts
Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over the region, she said, while dry soils reduced the ability to provide natural cooling.
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soils → trap → cooling
"This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another," she added.
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she → intensify → one
France, Spain, parts of Germany and the UK recorded exceptionally low rainfall and/or soil moisture, while soil moisture levels across much of western Europe were significantly lower than in 2022, when the region experienced severe drought.
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region → record → drought
Low flows exacerbate pressure on water supplies and irrigation, aquatic ecosystems, river transport and energy production.
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flows → exacerbate → supplies
The prolonged hot and dry conditions have created favourable conditions for wildfires, with massive wildfires raging across western Europe last month and "exceptional activity" in terms of the area burned and smoke and emissions generated.
"Climate change is increasingly bringing the kinds of hot and dry conditions that favour large, high-intensity wildfires in southern Europe while extended the fire season northwards," said Laurence Rouil, director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
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Rouil → create → Service
Larger fires produce more smoke and inject it higher into the atmosphere, allowing it to travel much further, he said.
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he → produce → atmosphere
That means countries that experience relatively few wildfires could be increasingly affected by smoke traveling long distances.
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that → mean → distances
In the UK, meanwhile, the prolonged dry spell is increasing pressure on already-stretched water supplies.
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spell → prolong → supplies
England and Wales recorded their driest July since records began 190 years ago, according to the Met Office, while large parts of England and all of Wales have already been officially declared in drought.
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parts → record → drought
The Environment Agency has warned that more areas of England could be declared in drought if dry conditions persist.
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conditions → warn → drought
Weather that was once considered extreme is becoming the "new normal", according to the latest Met Office report on the UK's climate.
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that → consider → climate
Its latest assessment found that the hottest day of the year in southern England is now 4.5C warmer than it was between 1961 and 1990.
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it → find → 1961
"We are right now living in a time of historic and unprecedented change," said Mike Kendon, Met Office climate information scientist, adding that "evidence shows the climate of the 20th century has now gone".
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climate → live → century
Scientists say El Niño may temporarily push global temperatures even higher.
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Niño → say → temperatures
Its effects are being felt against a backdrop of man-made warming, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.
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effects → feel → fuels
