Experts are urging Europeans to “brace themselves” as an exceptionally powerful and unusual heat dome has settled over Western and Central Europe, bringing temperatures never before seen this early in the year.
A massive upper-level ridge of high pressure stretching from Africa has created a persistent atmospheric “lid” that traps sinking air, causing it to compress, dry out, and rapidly warm. This has driven late-May temperatures as much as 29°F (16°C) above average, with readings reaching 95°F to 100°F (35°C to 38°C) in parts of Spain, Portugal, and France. London has already broken its historical May temperature records.
Because this extreme heat has arrived so early, communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems are poorly prepared. Scientists warn that early-season heatwaves are particularly dangerous, as people and systems have not yet acclimated to summer-like conditions. The risks include sharp increases in heat exhaustion, dehydration, and heat-related deaths, especially among vulnerable populations, along with heightened wildfire threats and severe stress on crops.
Researchers note that climate change is making these blocking high-pressure patterns more frequent and intense. This historic late-May heat dome serves as a clear warning of what a warming world may bring more often in the future.
[Korosec, M. (2026). Heat Dome Update: Europe Braces for Record-Breaking Late May Heatwave. Severe Weather Europe]
@WallStreetMav@EndWokeness It's even worse over here in England. These days mate, if you just say you're English, they'll arrest you and put you in jail.
I’m a climate scientist. Let me fix this headline.
“Nearly a century ago, scientists showed that burning fossil fuels warms the planet.*
Today, we know human emissions account for over 100% of the warming.**
Yet dark money and disinformation still work to keep Americans addicted to fossil fuels.”***
* in 1937, Guy Callendar published a paper showing that the world had already warmed over the last 50 years due to human emissions what he called “carbonic acid“ – what we now call CO2 – from burning fossil fuels
** If you are wondering, “how could humans be causing more than 100% of the warming?”
— it’s because, according to natural factors, the earth should be cooling right now.
So our emissions are offsetting that cooling AND causing all of the observed warming.
*** For more on the well funded disinformation campaign, read or watch Merchants of Doubt and The Petroleum Papers