“This latest heatwave in Europe is a brutal reminder of the spiraling impacts of the climate crisis, both human and economic. The main culprit is the world’s addiction to burning coal, oil and gas, and destroying forests,” UN Climate chief Simon Stiell said in a statement Wednesday.France reported at least seven deaths directly or indirectly due to heatwave, with two drowning deaths on Sunday at a beach spread across France’s Atlantic seaboard and two in sports competition.London witnessed what is called ‘a tropical night’ defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20 degrees Celsius. The UK broke a century-old temperature record for the second time in the past 24 hours on Tuesday. On Tuesday, London’s Kew Gardens recorded 35.1 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous day’s 34.8 degrees Celsius set a day earlier at Kew.
Today has been the hottest day in May on record with Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 34.8°C – exceeding the previous highest May temperature in the UK by a full 2 degrees Celsius🌡️This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May📈 pic.twitter.com/d8boJYgaXJ— Met Office (@metoffice) May 25, 2026
As a result, commuters scorched because of the extreme heat conditions on Tuesday in subway carriages without air conditioning. In neighbouring Scotland, firefighters worked overnight to douse a large grass fire which sent smoke billowing from Arthur’s Seat, the rocky hill that looms over Edinburgh.“We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that heat wave events such as this have been made more likely and more severe due to climate change arising from our emissions of heat–trapping greenhouse gases,” said Peter Thorne, director of the ICARUS Climate Research Centre, at Maynooth University, in Ireland.“But, nevertheless, many of the records being set, particularly in the UK and France, are mind bogglingly crazy,” he was quoted as saying by Associated Press.
