Western Europe sweltered through its hottest June on record last month, as "extreme" temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said Wednesday.

Globally, this past June was the third warmest on record, continuing a blistering heat streak in recent years as the planet warms as a result of humanity's emissions of greenhouse gases.

The previous hottest June was in 2024 and the second hottest was in 2023, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.

Sweltering extremes were particularly pronounced in Europe, which is warming several times faster than the global average.

Millions of people were exposed to high heat stress across parts of the continent as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before -- and never so early in the summer.

Several countries recorded surface temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, with heat of up to 46C in Spain and Portugal, Copernicus said.

Samantha Burgess, the EU monitor's Strategic Lead for Climate, said the impact of the heatwaves in Europe was "exceptional", intensified by record........

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