Last month saw the average European temperature and average global temperature reach record highs, going down as the hottest June on record.

According to Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), average temperatures in Europe were 2°C above normal, due to a mass of hot air from the Sahara Desert. Eastern Europe also saw several days of record-breaking temperatures.

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The weather organization also says that the global average temperature ranks as the warmest June on record. Last month was approximately 0.1°C hotter than June 2016, a month that saw high temperatures caused by a strong El Niño event.

France, Germany, northern Spain, northern Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic were all hit with abnormally warm weather. Comparing data from 1981 to 2010, June 25 to 29, 2019, saw temperatures in each country ranging from 6 to 10°C above average.

As a whole, the continent broke a monthly record dating back to 1999.

So what’s the cause of last month’s record-breaking temperatures and Europe’s recent heat wave?

C3S says that although it’s difficult to directly attribute the recent heat wave to climate change, extreme weather events are likely to become more common as greenhouse gasses increase global temperatures.

“Although local temperatures may have been higher or lower in those forecasts, our data shows that the temperatures over the Southwestern region of Europe during the last week of June were unusually high,” says Jean-Noël Thépaut, Head of C3S. “Although this was exceptional, we are likely to see more of these events in the future due to climate change.”

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