Europe had the warmest summer on record last year, contributing to thousands of deaths, marine heat waves and extreme weather, an analysis has found.
The continent warmed to 2.3 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average in 2022, a joint report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said. Sea surface temperatures reached record highs and there was also "unprecedented” glacier melting, the agencies said. Overall climate and weather hazards led to 16,365 deaths, mostly relating to heat waves, and caused $2 billion in damage, largely connected with floods and storms.
"Summer was the hottest ever recorded: the high temperatures exacerbated the severe and widespread drought conditions, fuelled violent wildfires that resulted in the second largest burnt area on record, and led to thousands of heat-associated excess deaths,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the WMO.