Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf was holidaying in southern France when he encountered the worst wildfires Europe has seen in modern history. As smoke from the fires reached a beach at Lacanau, north-west of Bordeaux, Rahmstorf described the scene: "There was a deep-red sun even at midday in the sky, and it turned the whole landscape into an eerie orange glow and looked like some kind of a dystopian movie."

Before summer officially began at the end of May 2026, Western Europe experienced daily average temperatures more than 10 degrees Celsius above normal across western France, England, and Wales. During June, all-time temperature records were broken at over 250 weather stations in Europe. Some reports suggest the heatwave caused more than 10,000 excess deaths.

Australian National University climate scientist Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick said the European summer brought back "bad memories" of Australia's 2019/20 climate events. She noted, "I still hear it, people saying, 'I don't mind if tomorrow is a couple of degrees warmer'; we all hear about climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius."

Rahmstorf reflected on the tragedy: "To see the devastation of extreme temperatures, prolonged drying, and then the raging wildfires occurring directly after that … it's just so tragic." Despite the crisis, holidaymakers continued activities like surf lessons, with Rahmstorf noting, "The beach life basically went on … as holidaymakers we couldn't really do anything to help."

The events underscore the visible fingerprints of the climate crisis across Europe, illustrating the urgent challenges posed by global warming.

Sources