July 2026 – Week 3
This week’s live blog continue our coverage of extreme heat engulfing the US and Europe. We will also keep an eye on other extreme heat events around the world as the impacts of El Nino is being felt.
On both continents the sporting world are paying a huge price with the football World Cup in North America, the cycling Grand Tour race Tour de France, and Wimbledon, tennis Grand Slam tournament in the UK, being conducted in extreme heat conditions – taxing for the athletes.
We will track the high fatalities as data comes in and will look at how governments are responding to the heat crisis combined with viewpoints from experts.
It is updated every day throughout the week with the most significant developments around energy and climate.
Last week’s live blog can be found here.
Key developments we are tracking this week:
- Persistent extreme heat conditions in Europe and North America
- High extreme heat fatalities in Europe
This liveblog is now closed, but you can see our latest and currently active live blogs here.
Latest
Friday 17th of July 2026
10:15 GMT
Heatwave: The UK’s third heatwave since May are coming up to the two-week mark breaching a series of new records, most notable breaking the record-breaking heatwave summer of 2026 in terms of the most prolonged heatwave.
Another record that would most be broken is the number of days where 30 ºC or above have been recorded as the country has now reached 25 days above that threshold.
Thursday 16th of July 2026
12:35 GMT
Drought: As the tourist season starts in the Greek islands, there’s increasing concerns that drought conditions could impact the country’s tourism economy.
Seven islands in the Aegean Sea have declared drought emergencies this year to preserve water as climate change makes summers hotter and rainfall more erratic.
The tourism economy is an integral part of the country’s wider economy and the drought conditions could add additional woes to an already struggling economy.
The following islands have declared emergency drought conditions:
- Astypalaia
- Tinos
- Alonnisos
- Karpathos
- Patmos
- Leros
- Symi
Wednesday 15th of July 2026
23:45 GMT
Wildfires: After wildfires have erupted in the Canadian province of Ontario, the residents of Toronto are paying a high price as the capital of the province experience the world’s worst air quality.
Monday 13th of July 2026
16:40 GMT
Wildfires: Below details the current active European wildfires based on available data and shows there’s currently active fires in 23 European countries.
| Country | Current status | Largest active fires | Fire danger |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | 🔴 Multiple active | Vouzela | Extreme |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 🔴 Active | Catalonia, Castellón | Very Extreme |
| 🇫🇷 France | 🔴 Active | Eastern Pyrenees, Alps | Very Extreme |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 🟠 Local fires | Sardinia, Sicily | Very High |
| 🇬🇷 Greece | 🔴 Active | Attica, Thessaloniki | Extreme |
| 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 🔴 Multiple fires | Western Türkiye | Very High |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia | 🟡 Isolated incidents | Dalmatian coast | High |
| 🇲🇪 Montenegro | 🟡 Local fires | Inland forests | High |
| 🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina | 🟡 Scattered | Central mountains | High |
| 🇷🇸 Serbia | 🟡 Small outbreaks | Southern Serbia | High |
| 🇦🇱 Albania | 🟠 Several fires | Mountain regions | High |
| 🇲🇰 North Macedonia | 🟠 Active | Central forests | High |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | 🟡 Local incidents | Carpathians | Moderate |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | 🟠 Several fires | Southern Bulgaria | High |
| 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 🟢 None significant | — | Moderate |
| 🇦🇹 Austria | 🟢 Very few | Alpine forests | Moderate |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 🟡 Local woodland fires | Brandenburg | Moderate |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | 🟡 Isolated | Eastern forests | Moderate |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | 🟡 Small fires | Central Sweden | Elevated |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | 🟢 Minimal | — | Low |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | 🟢 Minimal | — | Low |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 🟡 Heath and grass fires | Southern England | High |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | 🟡 Local moorland fires | Wicklow region | Elevated |
16:30 GMT
Wildfires: As a result of the extreme heat and persistent dry conditions, wildfires across Europe has been intensifying.
In addition to the usual wildfire areas in Spain, Greece and Turkey, unusual wildfires have also erupted in southern England, Wales and just outside the French capital of Paris.
11:15 GMT
Fatalities: Across Europe, as of this morning, the fatalities of the extreme heat has been calculated rising above 10,000.
Earlier updates
11:00 GMT
Fatalities: A study led by the Imperial College in London, UK have found that 2,700 deaths in England and Wales in May and June during the two heatwaves are attributed to the extreme heat conditions.
During the hottest day of June, this amounts to 400 deaths a day.
These numbers are likely to be far higher as the UK has just started its second week of the third heatwave of the year.
Saturday 11th of July 2026
00:20 GMT
Extreme heat: Experts have said that Europe’s third heatwave this year could have huge fatal consequences.
Early estimates suggest that the death count could mount to around a staggering 20,000 fatalities across the European continent.
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Categories: climate change, Europe, heat wave, live updates, US, Weather
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