00:00If you couldn't sleep last night due to the hot weather, you're not the only one.
00:03A heat dome is pushing unusually high temperatures across Europe,
00:06with new May records in the UK and France.
00:09For more on the science behind this and whether it's here to stay,
00:12we're joined now by Carlos Buentempo.
00:14That's the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
00:17Good morning, Carlos. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:20Just tell us about these abnormal temperatures, why we're seeing them now in May.
00:24Well, in a sense, what we're seeing now is just one specific instance of a broader pattern.
00:30If you look at the report the Copernicus Climate Change Service published last year about 2025,
00:36you see that this heat wave has become much more common and affect all European territory,
00:42not just the south or the west.
00:44Actually, the east and the north last year were on the spotlight.
00:48So in this case, it's this high-pressure reach that is extending over Europe,
00:51and it's still ongoing very much.
00:53So we will do the analysis once the event finishes.
00:57And, Carlos, is this due to climate change, do you think?
01:00Well, climate change certainly plays a big role.
01:03We have seen the warmest year on record last year in Europe.
01:06The last 11 years at the global level have been the 11 warmest.
01:10So this is pushing temperature up throughout, not just in Europe, everywhere else.
01:16But Europe is warming faster.
01:17And in that sense, I think climate change is likely to play an important role in what we are seeing
01:23now,
01:23making this event more likely, the intensity going up and lasting generally longer.
01:29And, Carlos, I guess the question is, are European cities prepared for more frequent heat waves like this?
01:35Well, I think it's a work in progress in many respects.
01:38So if you look at the report last year, that actually, thanks to our interaction with the World Meteorological Organization,
01:44there was a lot of work done with National Med Services.
01:47And that piece of work highlighted that the number of cities in Europe that now have a climate adaptation plan
01:53has doubled,
01:54and now is above 50 percent.
01:56So there is work being done, taking the information that is now available to inform our policy and prepare for
02:03it.
02:03But there is still work to be done because many cities and many regions don't yet have a proper adaptation
02:09plan.
02:09And of course, it's only May, but it feels like a very hot, sticky August.
02:13Is this likely, do you think, to become Europe's hottest summer on record?
02:17Well, way too early to say, but clearly with the El Nino looming in the Pacific and the temperature likely
02:24to go up globally,
02:25it is possible that we'll see warmest month in front of us.
02:29Certainly it will happen at the global level.
02:31Whether this will happen in Europe, well, we'll need to see expos, but certainly it is a concrete possibility.
02:37Okay. Carlo, buen tiempo.
02:39Thank you so much for joining us here this morning on Europe Today.
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