France logs hottest summer on record after wildfires and drought

France recorded its hottest summer since measurements began more than a century ago, the environment minister said on Thursday.

Firefighters relentlessly tackled wildfires throughout the summer, even in normally cooler and wetter regions in the north and Brittany, as France experienced one of its driest years ever. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux and forced a quarter of a million people to evacuate from their homes.

"We have experienced the hottest summer ever recorded since measurements began in 1900," Environment Minister Monique Barbut said at a presentation of the climate report covering the months of June, July and August.

According to national weather agency Meteo France, the summer of 2026 recorded an average temperature of 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit, covering day and nighttime. It's 6.5 degrees above the normal average, and higher than in 2003, when temperatures were 4.9 degrees above normal.

Millions in France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe experienced extreme temperatures this summer. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Meteo France, said the summer was marked by very low rainfall, with a deficit of nearly 40%, making it the second driest since records began.

There was an unprecedented number of heat wave days, with 53 days across three episodes throughout the season, far exceeding the summer of 2022 with 33 days.

Record-breaking ocean temperatures across all of mainland France and Corsica's coastlines were recorded, and very hot spells occurred outside the summer months, such as last May and early September, which are a sign of climate change, Meteo France added.