Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 18:36 UTC
The episode is part of a trend of extreme events that the scientific community links directly to human-driven climate change
Several Western European countries this week broke historic temperature records for the boreal spring, in a heat wave described as “unprecedented” by national weather services in the United Kingdom and France, which has caused at least ten deaths and stretched the continent's health services. The episode is part of a trend of extreme events that the scientific community links directly to human-driven climate change, according to a study published on Tuesday that concluded that the temperature spikes “are primarily attributed to human driven climate change.”
The United Kingdom recorded 35.1 degrees Celsius on Tuesday at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in west London, after 34.8 degrees registered on Monday at the same station. The figure represents the absolute record for British meteorological spring —covering March to May— and surpassed the previous mark of 32.8 degrees, recorded in London in 1922 and later equaled in 1944. The British Meteorological Office described the episode as “unprecedented for the time of year.” By Tuesday, the majority of England and Wales were officially under heat wave conditions, and the UK Health Security Agency activated an amber-level health alert, the second-highest tier, with specific warnings about mortality among older adults.
