June 2026 was the hottest June on record for Western Europe. France hit 43.8°C in a small town, the UK logged 37.7°C, the Northern Hemisphere peaked near 51.1°C, and a heat dome pushed the US West toward 52°C. Meanwhile Chongqing climbed to ~40°C in the Sichuan Basin.
This film separates two ideas people often confuse: the urban heat-island effect (cities baking locally) versus a real rise in the global average temperature. It walks through Earth's 11,700-year Holocene record and the Little Ice Age, then explains attribution science.
**Key data (from official sources):**
- 43.8°C — France, hottest June ever for Western Europe
- 37.7°C — UK June national record
- 51.1°C — Northern Hemisphere June peak
- ~52°C — US West heat dome (late July)
- ~40°C — Chongqing, Sichuan Basin
- ~10,000 — excess deaths, late-June Western Europe heatwave (Reuters)
- +1.4°C — warming since pre-industrial
- 2024 — first year to breach +1.5°C (WMO & Copernicus)
- 2025 — third-hottest year; June 2026 second-hottest June
- Heatwaves amplified 10–30× by human emissions (World Weather Attribution)
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