Europe has been the focus of a summer fever in much of the Northern Hemisphere. On June 25 alone, more than 100 million people in Europe experienced temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. Why is it so hot in Europe this summer? Bao Yuanyuan, chief forecaster of the National Meteorological Centre, used one word to explain the phenomenon in an interview with the global times: “Thermal Dome”.
According to Bao, the high temperatures in Europe in 2026 are characterized by early onset, strong onset, wide coverage and high night temperatures, which are different from the periodic and alternating heat waves of previous years. The heat wave started in late May, 1-2 months earlier than the traditional European summer heat wave, and quickly switched to extreme heat after a brief period of cold weather. In terms of intensity, the two rounds of heat waves in May and June set new records in succession. In June, the national average temperature in France exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, surpassing the extreme high temperatures in 2003 and 2019.
A woman takes a shower in villeneuve-lube, southern France, on July 2,2010, as hot weather affected much of Europe. (China Vision) #
What is a“Thermal dome”? “Imagine a huge, transparent glass lid in the sky,” Bao said. Horizontally, a vast system of high-pressure vessels is firmly established over Western Europe, there is little wind in the area, so the heat can not spread outward; in the vertical direction, the high-pressure air inside is sinking, just as a bicycle pump heats up when you pump IT UP, and the sinking air becomes hotter as it is compressed, it also“Vaporizes” clouds and rain. The Sun without shelter to continue to bake the earth, low and form a layer of“Warm cover”, the heat of the ground can not go up also can not spread. Heat can only build up and heat up repeatedly under the dome, like a self-sustaining giant oven that is hard to break once it’s formed, often for a week or more.
Europe’s unique geography adds a few more fires to the oven. Bao told reporters that from spring to June in 2026, the sea temperature in the Mediterranean continued to be abnormally positive. Instead of bringing coolness to the coast, it was like a pot of steaming hot water, delivering humid and hot water vapor to southern Europe, it’s like being in a giant sauna. As the wind passes over the Alps and the Montes Pyrenaeus, it creates a foehn: the wind heats up as it descends over the mountaintop, causing temperatures on the leeward side to soar by several degrees Celsius in just a few hours. In addition, Paris, London and other historical cities are densely built and heat-absorbing stone. After nightfall, the urban heat island effect slowly releases heat from the“Baked” buildings during the day, making it difficult for the entire city to cool down.
Further back, Europe is warming more than twice as fast as the global average, and rising climate baselines make it easier for extreme heat to break through historical extremes. Bao Yuanyuan said that the current equatorial Pacific is rapidly developing towards a strong El Nino event, also pushed up the global temperature base plate. World Meteorological Organization long-term forecast shows that this year, July and August in Europe, the probability of higher than normal temperature is very high, southwest Europe is the core high temperature area.