{"id":21947,"date":"2026-08-18T13:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/?p=21947"},"modified":"2026-08-18T13:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:16:17","slug":"climate-in-eu-in-july-2026-record-heatwaves-drought-and-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/climate-in-eu-in-july-2026-record-heatwaves-drought-and-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate in EU in July 2026: Record Heatwaves,  Drought and Wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New Europe-related weather data highlighted the severity of Europe&#8217;s&nbsp;climate summer conditions, with<strong> July 2026 marked by record-breaking temperatures, severe drought and significant wildfire activity<\/strong>.<strong> Global sea surface temperatures reached a record high for July<\/strong>, while Western Europe experienced its <strong>hottest June-July period on record<\/strong>. More information is available at this <a href=\"https:\/\/joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu\/jrc-news-and-updates\/worsening-drought-and-record-heat-grip-europe-fuelling-extraordinary-wildfires-and-extremely-low-2026-08-12_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>extreme heat<\/strong> was accompanied by <strong>worsening drought conditions<\/strong> across much of the continent as a result of below-average rainfall and recurring heatwaves. Data showed that 50% of the EU and the UK was experiencing some level of drought in late July, with the most severe conditions affecting areas including France, Germany, Hungary, Romania and the UK.<\/p>\n<p>The prolonged hot and dry weather has also fueled <strong>extraordinary wildfire activity<\/strong>. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service warned that <strong>climate change is increasing the frequency of conditions that support large, high-intensity wildfires<\/strong> and <strong>extending fire seasons further north in Europe<\/strong>. Beyond the direct destruction caused by fires, smoke from major wildfires can travel long distances and affect air quality across wider regions.<\/p>\n<p>The impacts are extending beyond forests and ecosystems. Europe&#8217;s&nbsp;major <strong>rivers<\/strong>, including the Loire, Po, Rhine and Danube,<strong> reached exceptionally low levels<\/strong> in August, placing increasing<strong> pressure on water resources, agriculture, energy systems, river transport, tourism and ecosystems<\/strong>. The combination of reduced rainfall and sustained heat has intensified<strong> stress on soils, vegetation and water supplies<\/strong> across large parts of the continent.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, forecasts indicate that warmer and drier conditions may continue through August and into September, maintaining the risk of further heatwaves and drought impacts. <strong>The findings underline the growing challenge that climate change<\/strong> poses to Europe&#8217;s&nbsp;environment, infrastructure and economic resilience, and highlight the increasing need for adaptation measures across multiple sectors. More information on the <strong>inspiring Horizon Europe projects dealing with the issue of addressing extreme climate situations in the summer<\/strong> is available at this <a href=\"https:\/\/cinea.ec.europa.eu\/news-events\/news\/confronting-extreme-heat-drought-and-wildfires-how-eu-funded-research-helping-europe-respond-and-2026-08-13_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">link.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Europe-related weather data highlighted the severity of Europe&#8217;s&nbsp;climate summer conditions, with July 2026 marked by record-breaking temperatures, severe drought and significant wildfire &#8230; <a class=\"cz_readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/climate-in-eu-in-july-2026-record-heatwaves-drought-and-wildfires\/\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><span>\u010c\u00edst v\u00edce<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","iawp_total_views":0},"categories":[577],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21947"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21948,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21947\/revisions\/21948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cbcsd.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}