The average global temperature in the months of June, July and August was 16.77 degrees this year. That’s 0.66 degrees warmer than normal in those months.
In Europe, the average temperature reached 19.63 degrees. That temperature was 0.83 degrees above normal. This makes the summer of 2023 the fifth warmest summer in European history.
The rise in temperatures led to a number of major heat waves and forest fires in European countries. Meanwhile, Western Europe and Turkey saw above-average rainfall.
In some parts of the world, including northern North America, parts of Asia, Chile and Brazil, heavy rains and floods have devastated people.
Several heat records have already been broken this summer. Separately, the three summer months were June, July and August the warmest on record. July 2023 is the warmest month ever recorded worldwide.
All of 2023 is still not the warmest year on record. This year, the average global temperature is still 0.01 degree lower than the average temperature for all of 2016. But with just under four months to go, this record could still be broken.
“The scientific evidence is overwhelming,” says Samantha Burgess, a climate scientist at Copernicus. “We will see more record-breaking climate events and extreme weather impacting communities and ecosystems until we stop greenhouse gas emissions.”