Most of August Stays Dry and Hot South/West Europe
08/04/2026, 4:39 am EDT
Climate Impact Company Gas/Power Report
Issued: Wednesday August 5, 2026
Highlight: Hottest summer on record London and Paris.
Fig. 1-2: Monthly CDD observations through July and August/September forecasts for Paris and London each indicate record warm values.
Discussion: Paris/Orly observed a record 208 CDD during July 2026 (Fig. 1) eclipsing the previous high mark of 192 (2006). June also produced a record CDD and August 2026 is projected in the top five hottest although a hotter value is certainly possible. London/Heathrow observed 141 CDD in July 2026 (Fig. 2) narrowly defeating the previous record of 138 (2006). Similar with Paris/Orly, the June CDD was a record hot value for London/Heathrow. The August projection is within the top five hottest (in the 1980-2026 climatology). The Western Europe record heat was caused by a titanic semi-permanent subtropical high-pressure ridge enhanced by an attendant marine heatwave located downwind a weak upper trough near the North Atlantic warm hole (Fig. 3-4).
Fig. 3-4: The 90-day 500 MB anomaly and global SSTA observations.