Southern Europe suffocates under record-breaking, widespread heatwave

Sylvie Claire / July 5, 2025

Already on Saturday, Spain had recorded a temperature of 46°C in Huelva, in the south of the country near the border with Portugal, a record for a month of June, the French meteorological agency (Aemet) confirmed on Monday. The previous record for June was set in 1965 in Seville, with a reading of 45.2°C.

As well as hailstorms in places, the heat in Portugal on Sunday led to the formation of a rare "roll cloud" phenomenon, which gathered over parts of the coastline.

"These clouds are relatively rare and were only introduced into the World Meteorological Organization's cloud atlas during the last revision in 2017," said the national meteorological agency (IPMA).

Inland, the thermometer was reported to have reached 46.6°C on Sunday in Mora, some 100 km east of Lisbon. If official, this would be a new record for a month of June, according to the local press.

In Italy, the Ministry of Health placed 17 cities across the country on red alert, including Rome, Milan, Florence and Verona.

The trend is clear: heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent, starting earlier and occurring later in the summer as a result of climate change.

The UK was also hit by the heatwave on the first day of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. The British authorities issued an orange alert in five regions of England, including London.

Sixteen French departments, including Paris and its region, have been placed on red alert (which corresponds to an "extreme heat wave") for Tuesday, Météo-France announced on Monday. In addition, 68 departments will remain under orange vigilance.

Tuesday will be the hottest day of the episode, with very high minimums of between 20 and 24°C, and even a little higher very locally, and maximums reaching 36 to 40°C, with a few peaks of 41°C in departments under red alert.

The Ministry of Education has forecast the closure of some 1,350 public schools, "totally or partially", according to the latest figures, out of a total of 45,000 establishments.

Finally, on Sunday, the Mediterranean Sea experienced its warmest surface temperature ever recorded for a month of June, averaging 26.01°C, according to data from the European Copernicus program, analyzed by Météo-France.

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Southern Europe suffocates under record-breaking, widespread heatwave

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