Europe heat dome brings near-record temperatures to Britain and France

A stubborn block of high pressure north and west of the UK has pinned a pool of very warm air over western Europe, setting up a heat dome that is pushing temperatures higher day after day. The Met Office said the pattern was driving near-record heat across Britain, Spain and France, with parts of Spain, France and Italy forecast to rise into the high 30s and some locations likely to exceed 40C.

The science is simple, but the consequences are not. High pressure suppresses cloud and rain, while the surrounding band of hot air keeps the heat in place instead of letting it move on. That means temperatures do not just spike for a few hours; they build, and they stay high enough to strain power demand, dry out soils, stress crops, raise wildfire risk, disrupt transport and make heat illness more likely, especially when nights stay warm and bodies never get a break.

The UK Health Security Agency issued a Yellow Heat-Health Alert for the East Midlands, East of England, London and southeast England from June 17 through June 22, warning that temperatures could affect the health and wellbeing of some people. Forecasts pointed to southern parts of England approaching 30C by Friday, 32C in East Anglia on June 19, 32C in the south and southeast on June 21, and up to 33C in the same areas on June 22. Gregory Wolverson of the Met Office described the setup as a “familiar summer contrast between unsettled conditions to the northwest and heat building in the south and east.”

The wider European pattern reflected the same locked-in ridge of pressure. On June 17, the Met Office said a significant heatwave was developing across large parts of Europe, with temperatures expected to climb well above average for the time of year. European meteorologists also track the system through the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the operational forecasting framework that helps shape the continent’s day-to-day weather picture.

The heat also fits a longer shift in Britain’s climate. The Met Office said the country’s top five warmest summers on record have all occurred since 2003, and summer 2025 became the warmest UK summer on record with a mean temperature of 16.1C. England recorded its warmest June on record in 2025 at 16.9C, while the UK had its second warmest June at 15.2C. June 2025 also featured two heatwaves, and the Met Office says human influence has increased the occurrence and intensity of extreme heat events.