Sicily, Southern Italy, might have recorded Europe's hottest ever temperature. Regional authorities reported that the thermometer registered a temperature of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) near the city of Siracusa.
The value is yet to be corroborated by the World Meteorological Organization, which is looking into it. The current record in Europe is 48.0 °C (118.4 °F) recorded in Athens on July 10, 1977, according to the WMO.
“The Società Meteorologica Italiana say that the temperature report of 48.8C is genuine. However, with potential records such as these there is typically a process of verification before they can be declared officially," Trevor Mitchell, a meteorologist from the UK MetDesk, told the Guardian.
This northern hemisphere summer has seen other high-temperature records broken. Death Valley reached 54.4°C (130°F) on June 9, shy of what it is considered the official (but controversial) world record set in 1913.
The whole North American continent experienced a deadly heatwave in the last few months, leading to the highest daily average and the highest night temperature for the continent, as well as many local and regional records. June 2021 saw the breaking of 1,238 day temperature records and 1,503 night temperature records.
A recent report has shown that these scorching temperatures would be almost impossible without the human-caused climate crisis. Extreme weather events will become more common unless bold actions are taken.
