The World Meteorological Organisation confirmed on Tuesday that continental Europe recorded in 2021 its highest ever temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit), and warned that new extremes were expected.
The searing heat on August 11, 2021, was nearly one degree Celsius higher than the previous record peak of 48˚C registered on July 10, 1977 in the Greek cities of Athens and Elefsina, it said.
That 1977 record was not independently verified by the WMO.
With human-caused emissions heating the planet, Europe is warming around twice as quickly as the world average—2.2 degrees Celsius over the past five years compared to the pre-industrial era.