fredag 26 juni 2026
Climate Threat Extreme Weather in Europe
Anger at EU Offices – Having to Turn Off the AC in the Heat
Bureaucrats at the European Commission are fuming after being forced to turn off their air conditioning in the extreme heat. This is what several sources tell Politico.
– Shameful, one of them tells the news site.
Another calls it a “feudal system” that the call that went out on Friday only applied to floors one to seven of the Commission’s headquarters in Brussels. From floor eight and up, the highest officials, commissioners and President Ursula von der Leyen sit.
Heat records have been broken in several European countries in recent days. Over 40 degrees have been measured in five locations in Europe, according to AFP.
Scientists: Climate change behind the heat wave – at the limit of what we can handle
The extreme heat in Europe would not have been possible if it were not for climate change. This is what a group of researchers from the World Weather Attribution organization has concluded in a new report that several media outlets are writing about.
The weather is not unusual in itself, but temperatures that high would have been impossible fifty years ago, when the planet was 1.1 degrees cooler.
The ongoing heat wave has been described as the most severe ever, and new heat records have been set only to be immediately surpassed. In France, the United Kingdom and Spain, among others, the healthcare system has been pushed to the breaking point.
“This summer shows that here, at 1.4 degrees of global warming, extreme heat has already reached the upper limit of what our societies can handle,” the researchers write.
The Pride parade in Paris is canceled - it's too hot
The Pride parade in Paris is postponed due to the ongoing heat wave, writes France 24.
- We are thinking of holding it in September, but the whole team needs to have a meeting to see how we can come back, says Anouk Veyret, president of Inter-hbtq.
French police have previously asked the organizers to cancel Saturday's plans, writes AFP.
According to the police, the measures taken by the organizers had not been sufficient and the implementation risked overloading the already hard-pressed healthcare system.
According to QX, 300,000 people participated in the Pride parade in Paris in 2025.
UN agency: “Heat records across Europe”
The health-threatening heat wave that has swept across Europe continues to break heat records in several countries.
– It is something we need to get used to, unfortunately, says UN agency WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis.
Unusually
high temperatures for the month of June have and continue to break heat
records across Europe, the World Meteorological Organization, WMO,
states at a press conference.
– The heat wave has a major impact on human health, ecosystems, agriculture and work capacity, says Clare Nullis.
Meteorologists call the phenomenon omega blocking.
“These types of blockages can persist for days or even weeks,” says John Kennedy, climate chief at the WMO.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, according to the UN agency.
“Extreme heat will occur more regularly, last longer and be more intense as global warming continues,” says Kennedy.
The WMO has compiled some of the heat records in a press release.
On
June 24, the average temperature in France was 30 degrees, and the
hottest local temperature was 43.8 degrees in the western village of
Pulluau.
In Spain, the hottest days were on June 23 and 24, with
temperatures exceeding 40 degrees. Bilbao recorded a record-breaking
42.7 degrees.
In the UK, the heat record for June was broken for
three consecutive days; the hottest was 37.3 in southern England,
according to measurements on Friday.
In Switzerland, the June record was broken when 38 degrees was measured in the city of Basel.
Germany
has registered record highs of 40 degrees in several places and as the
heat moves eastward and towards the Balkans, further heat records are
expected to be measured in several countries there.
Climate Threat Global Challenges
Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia Running Out of Water
Crumbling infrastructure and unpredictable rainfall have led to the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia running out of water – despite millions of dollars in investment. This is reported by The Guardian.
Saint Lucia has so far received a total of around SEK 780 million in international aid in three different projects to tackle the water crisis, but according to experts, the initiatives do not go far enough.
One of the problems is that the island's pipes are old and leaky, another is that the tourist season coincides with the island's dry season, which puts heavy pressure on the infrastructure. Climate change has also led to more extreme droughts and rainfall on the island.
"People should not expect tap water every day"
Saint Lucia's rainy season starts in May. It was a relief for 55-year-old Madeleine Solomon, who is feeling the effects of the island's water shortage.
“I thank God every day, because our situation was really bad,” she told The Guardian.
According to Saint Lucia’s former energy minister James Fletcher, the island’s water needs can be met by rainwater, but then everyone living on the island would have to make sure to collect and store rainwater.
“People shouldn’t expect to have water in their taps every day of the year,” he says.
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