Europe's Summer of 2026

There hasn't been any significant rainfall in southwestern Germany since mid-June, while one heat wave has followed another. The fifth one is on its way and will peak this Friday at 38°C (100°F).

 
Here is a photo gallery showing the full extent of the heat and drought damage in the Old World.

 

The Rhine River at Cologne (©AP)

The fire fronts of wildfires in Spain, Portugal, France, and Greece (©AP)

Beachgoers on France's Atlantic coast are contemplating wildfires near Bordeaux  (©AP)

Burnt-out forests ... (©AP)

... and charred cars (©AP)

Heat protests in Zurich, Switzerland (©AP)

A lorry is crossing the Tejo River in Spain (©AP)

At temperatures above 30 C, Leipzig's streetcars squeeze the insulating bitumen out of their track bed (©AP)

A swimming dock on Lake Constance leads to dry land (©AP)

A whirlwind over Lake Constance is an extremely rare phenomenon (©AP)

Swimmers in Romania next to a World War II shipwreck in what remains of the Danube River (©AP)

The dry bed of the Haslacher Dorfbach in Freiburg (©Kathrin Blum/BZ)

Freiburg's Park on the Lake (©Kathrin Blum/BZ)

How similar the landscapes look: New York's Central Park (©AP)

It follows a horror scenario for the Americas.

      

(©NYT)

Will the 2026 El Niño affect Europe's climate?

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