2026 Summer Sets Global and U.S. Heat Records

August 2026 tied July 2023 as the hottest month in the Copernicus record, with a global average surface temperature of 16.96°C, about 1.65°C above the 1850–1900 preindustrial baseline and 0.85°C above the 1991–2020 average. It was the first month since November 2025 to exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold, although one month does not constitute a permanent breach, and June through August tied 2024 as the hottest meteorological summer globally. Extra-polar sea-surface temperatures also reached a record 21.07°C, while scientists attributed the heat to long-term fossil-fuel-driven warming amplified by a strengthening El Niño that could produce further records through year-end. The contiguous United States also recorded its hottest meteorological summer, with a June-through-August average of 74.4°F surpassing records set in 1936 and 2021; August set a national record and July was the hottest U.S. month on record. Heat domes brought severe conditions across much of the West, Southwest, southern Rockies, Plains and southern Florida, contributing to widespread drought, pressure on Colorado River supplies and wildfires, while parts of the Midwest experienced unusually heavy rain and Hawaii had its second-wettest August after Hurricane Lala. The broader heat contributed to severe drought and wildfires in Europe, deadly floods and landslides in parts of Asia, record August temperatures in California and other U.S. states, and the hottest summer on record in Western Europe.