<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/national_temperature_records_2019_july.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/national_temperature_records_2019_july.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/national_temperature_records_2019_july.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > The fourteen nations (white labels) and territories (purple labels) that have set all-time record highs in 2019.

At a Glance More than a dozen countries have had their warmest days on record.

The extreme European heat wave in July smashed multiple national records.

Some national records were broken twice in two days. All-time high temperature records have been broken in 13 of the world’s nations and territories, and tied in another, making 2019 through July the second most prolific year on record for all-time national heat records set or tied.

Six of those records were set during the extreme heat wave that baked western and northern Europe in late July. Three others were set during an earlier European heat wave in late June.

In contrast, no all-time national cold records have been broken thus far in 2019.

The largest number of all-time national/territorial heat records set or tied in a single year was the 22 heat records that occurred in 2016, according to international records researcher Maximiliano Herrera. 2019 joins 2017 as the runner-up with 14 heat records .

Below are the national and territorial all-time heat records set or tied in 2019 thus far, listed in chronological order. All of these were recorded in degrees Celsius (the system used outside the United States), with the Fahrenheit equivalent shown afterward.

Christmas Island (territory of Australia): 31.6°C (88.9°F), January 19

Reunion Islands (overseas department of France): 37.0°C (98.6°F), January 25

Angola: 41.6°C (106.9°F), March 22

Togo: 43.5°C (110.3°F), March 28 (later tied on 4 April)

Vietnam: 43.4°C, (110.1°F), April 20

France: 46.0°C (114.8°F) at Verargues, June 28

Andorra: 39.4°C (102.9°F) at Borda Vidal, June 28

Cuba: 39.1°C (102.4°F) at Veguitas (Cuba), June 30

Jersey (crown dependency of Britain): 36.0°C (96.8°F) at Jersey Airport, July 23 (record tied)

Belgium: 41.8°C (107.2°F) at Begijnendijk, July 25

Germany: 42.6°C (108.7°F) at Lingen, July 25

Luxembourg: 40.8°C (105.4°F) at Steinsel, July 25

Netherlands: 40.7°C (105.3°F) at Gilze Rijen, July 25

United Kingdom: 38.7°C (101.7°F) at Cambridge, July 25

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/shower-belgium-7.24.19.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/shower-belgium-7.24.19.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/shower-belgium-7.24.19.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Cooling off in a beach shower at De Haan, Belgium A man cools off in a beach shower during a hot summer day at the beach in De Haan, Belgium, Thursday, July 25, 2019. It was the hottest day in the nation's history, with almost every weather station reporting an all-time record high. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Breaking Records One Day and Topping Those the Next

The late-July heat wave in Europe was so intense that some all-time national heat records were broken on more than one day, and in more than one location.

Three nations – Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands – set new all-time highs on Wednesday, July 24, and then promptly broke them on Thursday, July 25.

Twelve stations in Germany recorded temperatures on July 25 above the all-time national high that had been set just the day before. Likewise, at least eleven stations in the Netherlands had readings on July 25 that were higher than the all-time national high set on July 24.

All-time national highs and lows are subject to verification by national weather agencies. Norway’s Meteorological Institute rejected a reading of 35.6°C (96.1°F) at Laksfors on July 27, which would have tied the all-time national heat record for Norway.

“The reason is that the location of the measuring station is not good enough for it to be approved as a climate reading,” the institute’s director of observation and climate services, Cecilie Stenersen, told Norway Today. “There is too much stone, gravel and vegetation too close to the temperature sensor, and it affects the measurements.”

National Heat Records In Line with Global Warming

The new national heat records in 2019 have occurred in sync with long-term global-scale warming linked to human-produced greenhouse gases. This year's heat has been boosted further by a weak El Niño. Most global annual temperature records are set during El Niño years, while La Niña years tend to be slightly cooler globally (although both types of years are getting warmer).

June 2019 was the hottest June in worldwide data that goes back to 1880, and July 2019 may end up ranked as the hottest of any month on record globally.

Several monitoring groups around the world will be releasing their analyses for July in the first half of August. Because different groups use different techniques to account for data-sparse areas, it is possible that their final rankings for July may differ slightly from each other.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/dc-heat-officer-7.20.19.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/dc-heat-officer-7.20.19.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/dc-heat-officer-7.20.19.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Police officer on Capitol Hill during hot weather, July 2019 A police officer wipes sweat from his eyes as he stands his post on the west side of Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, July 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

U.S. National Average: Not So Hot This Year

Temperatures have been extraordinarily warm in many parts of the Arctic. July is expected to be the hottest month in Alaska records going back to 1925, and the first half of the year was the second hottest on record for the 49th State.

Intense heat spread across the central and eastern United States during July, bringing dangerously high heat indexes . However, for 2019 thus far, the contiguous U.S. has been one of the milder spots on Earth relative to average.

U.S. temperatures in June and for the year to date have been only slightly above the long-term average. July as a whole saw unusual warmth in the Midwest and Northwest, coupled with somewhat cooler-than-average readings from the northern High Plains to the lower Mississippi Valley. Record daily lows were widespread across the South in late July.

The United States represents only about 6% of Earth's total land area, so it's quite possible for other nations, and the planet as a whole, to set all-time heat records even without the U.S. doing so.