Europe is facing an intensifying heat wave that’s pushing temperatures into dangerous territory, smashing June records across Southern Europe, including in Spain, Portugal, and now the French Alps. Over the past weekend, the thermometer surged past 100 °F (38 °C) in several areas, with the extreme heat wave forecast to spread eastward into France, Italy, and large parts of Eastern Europe in the coming days.
This unrelenting heat is fueled by an expansive heat dome that originated over the North African deserts, where historic highs were also recorded in Morocco. That same air mass is now sweeping across the Mediterranean, creating a corridor of oppressive warmth that stretches from coastal lowlands to alpine peaks.
In the French Alps, where June typically brings melting snow and cool breezes, the temperature spike has rewritten the record books. The freezing line, the altitude where the temperature falls to 32 °F (0 °C), soared to an unprecedented 16,850 feet (5,135 meters) above sea level — a height never before recorded in June.
The ongoing heat wave caps what is now expected to be one of the hottest Junes ever recorded in Europe, setting the stage for a blistering start to July.
