Europe Records Second-Hottest May on Record After Early Heatwave and Cool Start

Europe recorded one of its hottest Mays on record in May 2026 after an unusually early heatwave pushed temperatures well above normal levels across western Europe. Britain, France, Ireland and Portugal each broke their national May temperature records during the month. A heat dome of warm air from northern Africa drove the conditions.

The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said the month featured a rapid transition from much cooler-than-average conditions to one of the most intense heatwaves ever observed this early in the year in western Europe. Feels-like temperatures reached 35C to 40C across large parts of the continent.

"The rapid transition likely increased impacts on populations, leaving little time for people, as well as crops and ecosystems, to acclimatise to much higher temperatures," the service stated in its May bulletin.

81C in May 2026, second only to May 2024, Copernicus reported. The average sea surface temperature was also the second-highest on record, behind May 2024. Conditions shifted toward the warming El Niño weather pattern, with temperatures remaining at exceptionally high levels across a swathe of the tropical Pacific, the service said.

Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium–Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus, said the unusually early and intense heatwave demonstrates how quickly climate extremes are becoming the new normal rather than the exception.

The World Meteorological Organization stated last week that El Niño has an 80% chance of developing between June and August 2026. The previous El Niño contributed to 2023 becoming the second-hottest year on record and 2024 the all-time high.