A climate specialist stated that the May just concluded ranks as the second warmest May globally since meteorological record-keeping began. Over the past month, temperatures across Europe surged sharply from below-average levels to fuel one of the continent’s most ferocious heatwaves. This year’s heatwave arrived earlier than any previously documented, shattering dozens of May temperature benchmarks, with France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal bearing the brunt of the extreme heat.
Unprecedented Early Heatwave Sweeps Across Europe
A climate specialist stated that the May just concluded ranks as the second warmest May globally since meteorological record-keeping began. Over the past month, temperatures across Europe surged sharply from below-average levels to fuel one of the continent’s most ferocious heatwaves. This year’s heatwave arrived earlier than any previously documented, shattering dozens of May temperature benchmarks, with France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal bearing the brunt of the extreme heat.
These extreme weather events serve as stark evidence of Europe’s rapid warming. A long-term climate trend has firmly taken hold: heatwaves are growing more frequent, more intense and striking earlier each year. The continent also faces starkly uneven precipitation patterns. Most of Europe suffered drought conditions far more severe than seasonal averages, while Turkey, Bulgaria, Moldova and surrounding regions endured catastrophic flooding.
Global Warming Persists, Amplified by El Niño
Global warming momentum continued unabated throughout May. Driven by the El Niño climate pattern, sea surface temperatures across the tropical Pacific hit abnormal highs, with the warm ocean anomaly projected to persist for multiple months.
The globe saw stark divides in moisture and heat conditions:
- Regions sweltering under unseasonably humid and hot weather: northern and southeastern North America, the northern Indian subcontinent, western China, portions of Brazil and Australia, and southern Africa.
- Areas gripped by drought: central United States, most of Central Asia, Madagascar, southwestern Australia and extensive swathes of South America.
