World Sees Record Heat Waves

According to preliminary data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the world has just experienced the hottest week on record (average July 3-9). This follows the hottest June on record. At a regional scale, absolute temperature records are being broken around the globe, as shown in our map featuring a non-exhaustive selection of national (and/or continental) records set since 2017.

The most recent records were set in South Asia in April and May 2023, when an exceptional heatwave hit the region. Several national records were broken, including in Thailand (45.4°C), Vietnam (44.2°C) and Laos (43.5°C).

Meanwhile, Australia and Uruguay matched their national records last year, with 50.7°C in Onslow and 44.0°C in Florida respectively, and the UK saw the mercury break an all-time high in July 2022 as it passed the 40°C barrier.

During the summer of 2021, one of the hottest on Earth, Canada, Turkey, Spain and Italy recorded peak temperatures. The Italian record, 48.8°C at Syracuse, was reported to be the highest temperature ever measured in Europe, although it is still awaiting certification by the WMO, a process that can take several years.

In Antarctica, a new record was hit in 2020 as temperatures rose to over 18°C at the Esperanza base during the austral summer. One year earlier, the French national record of 46°C was measured at Vérargues (Hérault), while the 2019 heatwave also saw other records broken in Europe, such as in Belgium (41.8°C) and Germany (41.2°C).

In 2017, Pakistan (53.7°C) and Kuwait (53.9°C) recorded the fourth and third highest temperatures ever measured on Earth, as validated by the WMO. The world record is still officially attributed to Furnace Creek, in the Californian desert, with 56.7°C reached in 1913.