France experienced its hottest summer on record in 2026, marked by heatwaves, drought and massive wildfires, the environment minister said on Thursday.
"We have just lived through the hottest summer ever recorded since measurements began in 1900," Monique Barbut said at a presentation of the summer climate report, which for meteorologists covers June to August.
France joins Belgium and Britain in recording their hottest-ever summers after a season that scorched Europe, the globe's fastest warming continent.
Scientists say that human-made climate change has made extreme weather events more intense and more frequent.
France endured multiple severe heatwaves, including one in late June that set a new intensity record.
