If you’re planning a holiday to the Mediterranean this summer, you might want to reconsider the destination.
Experts have warned that 50°C (122°F) heat is ‘perfectly possible’ in southern Europe in the coming weeks.
Europe is already in the midst of a blistering heatwave, with large areas of Spain reaching 44°C (111.2°F) over the past week.
This exceptional heat has sparked wildfires across France and Spain, with thousands of people forced to evacuate.
Now, Professor Bill McGuire, Emeritus of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at UCL and author of The Fate of the World: a History and Future of the Climate Crisis, warns that the worst could be yet to come.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: ‘It would be no surprise if 50°C was exceeded, either later this summer or next year, when the heating impact of the unprecedented El Nino building in the Pacific will be at its greatest.’
If you’ve got a holiday planned to the Mediterranean, Professor McGuire says you can expect to spend a ‘lot of time’ indoors.
‘I wouldn’t say that they would be a total write–off, but I think holidaymakers will need to be prepared to spend a lot of time in air–conditioned hotel rooms, due to it simply being too hot to do anything outside,’ he added.
If you’re planning a holiday to the Mediterranean this summer, you might want to reconsider the destination. Pictured: tourists on a beach in Valencia this week
Europe is already in the midst of a blistering heatwave , with large areas of Spain reaching 44°C (111.2°F) over the past week. This exceptional heat has sparked wildfires across France and Spain, with thousands of people forced to evacuate. Pictured: a wildfire in Los Gallardos
Last month was the hottest June ever recorded for western Europe, thanks the record–breaking heatwave during the second half of the month
Currently, the highest recorded air temperature in Europe is 48.8°C (119.84°F), which was recorded in Floridia, Sicily on 11 August 2021.
The previous record was 48.0°C (118.4°F), in Elefsina and Athens back in 1977.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Professor Hanna Cloke, Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science at the University of Reading, said: ‘Temperatures in the high 40s are possible in the hottest parts of Spain and Portugal.
‘And where humidity is high it can feel even hotter than that, well above what the thermometer says. That’s the kind of heat that kills.’
Holidaymakers will need to be particularly cautious this summer, as these temperatures become the norm, Professor McGuire advises.
‘The old and vulnerable need to be very careful; keeping out of the sun and drinking plenty of water, as they can easily suffer and become ill in 40°C+ temperatures,’ he said.
‘In addition, it would be well worth keeping an eye on the local news for reports of wildfires, which are now rampant across parts of France, Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean region.’
So, what’s behind this record–breaking heat?
Experts have warned that 50°C (122°F) is ‘perfectly possible’ in southern Europe in the coming weeks. Pictured: passengers try to keep cool on the Paris Metro this week
According to the expert, there is ‘no doubt whatsover’ that climate change is to blame.
‘Europe is heating faster than any other continent as we continue to add more than 40 billion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere every year – equivalent to the weight of 800,000 Titanics,’ Professor McGuire said.
‘The average temperature of Europe is now more than 2°C hotter than it was 100 years ago, and high temperature extremes are going up even faster.
‘Heatwaves are getting hotter and longer, and taking many thousands of lives every year.
‘But this isn’t the new normal, this is just the beginning.
‘Summers across the Mediterranean region are just going to keep on getting hotter as long as we continue to do next to nothing in terms of reining in carbon emissions.’
The latest wildfire is one of Spain’s deadliest in recent years and comes as Europe continues to grapple with another intense summer heatwave.
In June, Spain recorded several days of exceptional heat, with more than 1,000 deaths due to high temperatures.
Over in France, deaths increased by nearly a third during the hottest week of the hottest recorded June.
The country recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, according to official figures, and 300 during scorching temperatures in May.
Temperatures reached 40C across western and central parts of the country, peaking at 37°C in Paris, as the country faces its third heatwave since May.
In response to scorching heat, the French government announced on Friday it would be opening ‘cooling centres’ for vulnerable citizens, including the elderly and homeless.
The warning comes as experts from Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed that last month was the hottest June ever recorded for western Europe.
Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at ECMWF, said: ‘June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing.
‘Western Europe recorded its warmest June on record, and continued record warmth in the global ocean.
‘Together, these records reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat.
‘The result is increasingly intense heatwaves, a persistently warm ocean, and growing risks for people, ecosystems and infrastructure across Europe and beyond.’
