Summer 2026 broke heat records from Maine to Europe

As meteorological fall began on September 1, climate summaries from weather agencies across the Northern Hemisphere confirmed a stark pattern: the summer of 2026 was among the hottest ever recorded in locations stretching from New England to Western Europe.

Record Heat From Maine to South Florida

In Portland, Maine, the summer of 2026 was the second-hottest on record, with an average temperature of 69.3°F across June, July, and August, trailing only the summer of 2020, which averaged 70.5°F. Newscenter Maine meteorologist Keith Carson noted in the Portland Press Herald that the top five warmest summers in the city have all occurred in the past six years, and that the odds of eight of the ten hottest summers falling within the last 16 years without climate change as a driver are roughly 1 in 100,000.wgme+1

Farther south, the National Weather Service's Miami office reported that Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach experienced their hottest meteorological summers on record, while Miami tied its record set in 2023. Fort Lauderdale recorded 78 days at or above 90°F, nearly double its average, and drought conditions that persisted since winter amplified the heat. The agency attributed much of the extreme warmth to a strengthening El Niño, which drove persistent high pressure over Florida and the Caribbean.wlrn

Europe's Unprecedented Heat

Across the Atlantic, France recorded its hottest summer since measurements began more than a century ago, according to Environment Minister Monique Barbut, who presented the country's summer climate report on Thursday. Météo-France reported an average summer temperature of 24°C (75.2°F) and an unprecedented 53 days of heatwave conditions spread across three episodes — far exceeding the 33 heatwave days recorded during the summer of 2022, the previous benchmark.france24+1

In the British Crown dependency of Jersey, the Met Office declared 2026 the warmest summer since records began in 1894, with an average temperature of 20.5°C, well above the 30-year average of 17.7°C. The UK itself also recorded its hottest summer on record, with a mean temperature of 16.5°C, according to provisional Met Office data.bbc+1

A Warming Pattern Takes Hold

The breadth of the records underscores what climate scientists have warned about for years. In Portland, Carson compared the public's gradual adjustment to rising temperatures to "a frog in boiling water". In South Florida, forecasters cautioned that summer-like heat and humidity would likely persist through October. And in France, the environment minister was blunt: "The summer of 2026 will go down in history".wgan+2