This year's summer months of June, July and August were the warmest in Europe since records began, according to a report by a climate change monitor.
The average temperature was almost 1 degree Celsius above the average for the years 1991 to 2020, the report by European climate change service Copernicus (C3S) said.
The summer months were warmest in 2010 and 2018, the report said. Both months were about 0.1 degrees Celsius cooler than this year. Copernicus' records go back to 1979.
Temperatures in August 2021 were close to average across Europe, the report said, noting that people's experiences of the month differed, with heat records broken in the Mediterranean while it was cooler than usual in northern Europe.
The EU's Climate Change Service produces monthly reports on air temperature, sea ice and the water cycle using data from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations worldwide.
