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A historic heatwave in Europe is being monitored from space by the Sentinel-3 satellite, part of the European Copernicus program. The image captured on May 26, 2026, shows in vibrant colors the extent of the heatwave, with surface temperatures reaching up to 40°C in southern Europe and above 35°C in London, a city where the May average ranges between 10°C and 19°C. The heatwave hit Hungary, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom, and scientists from the ICARUS Climate Research Centre classified the records as surprising in magnitude.
The heatwave that swept through Europe this week is not just a thermal sensation: it can be seen from space. An image released with data from the Sentinel-3 mission, highlighted as the space photo of the day on May 29, 2026, reveals a continent painted in red and orange, with surface temperatures exceeding 40°C in southern Europe. The heatwave pushed London’s thermometers above 35°C in a month when the British capital usually records highs of 19°C accompanied by rain, a difference that makes the event extreme even for European summer standards.
Peter Thorne, director of the ICARUS Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University in Ireland, told CNN that events like this heatwave “have become more likely and more severe due to climate change”. According to the scientist, many of the records observed, especially in the United Kingdom and France, are surprising in magnitude and reinforce the warming pattern that climate models project for the coming decades.
What the Sentinel-3 image shows about the heatwave
image: esa
The image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite on May 26, 2026, records the land surface temperatures across Europe. The regions in deep red indicate areas with temperatures above 40°C, concentrated in southern Spain, Italy, and Hungary, while shades of blue represent cooler surfaces in the Scandinavian regions and northern Russia.
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The visual contrast is striking: almost all of Western Europe appears in shades of orange and red, showing that the heatwave was not limited to the Mediterranean but advanced over regions that rarely face temperatures of this magnitude in May. Countries like Germany and Switzerland, which normally still experience mild weather at this time of year, had highs close to 40°C that forced authorities to issue weather alerts.
The records that scientists call surprising
The heatwave broke records in multiple countries simultaneously. In the United Kingdom, where temperatures above 35°C in May are practically unheard of, the event has already been linked to heat-related deaths, especially among the elderly and people with vulnerable health conditions. In France, weather stations recorded values that surpassed historical records for the month.
For scientists, the most concerning aspect is not just the intensity of the heatwave, but the timing of its occurrence. May is not a month typically associated with extreme heat in Europe, and events of this magnitude at the end of spring suggest that the European summer of 2026 may be particularly severe. The 2023 heatwave, which killed more than 60,000 people in Europe according to estimates published in Nature Medicine, demonstrated that the continent remains vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
The role of satellites in monitoring the heatwave
The Sentinel-3, launched in 2018, is part of the Copernicus program, coordinated by the European Commission with support from the European Space Agency. The mission integrates a series of satellites dedicated to monitoring changes in the oceans and continental areas, and the ability to measure surface temperatures on a continental scale allows visualizing the heatwave in a way that terrestrial weather stations, no matter how numerous, cannot offer.
The Sentinel-3 image reinforces the role of Earth observation satellites in monitoring extreme climate phenomena. While local thermometers record the heat at specific points, the satellite shows the full extent of the heatwave, revealing propagation patterns and identifying regions where temperatures are more intense. For European governments, this data is essential for directing alerts and emergency resources.
What the heatwave means for the European summer of 2026
The arrival of a heatwave of this magnitude as early as May raises concerns about what the European summer holds. If the climate pattern persists, July and August may bring temperatures exceeding 40°C in an even more extreme manner, repeating or surpassing the events of 2023 that devastated southern Europe and exposed the fragility of continental infrastructure in the face of prolonged heat.
For Europe, each heatwave is a capacity test: hospitals need to absorb the increase in emergencies, power grids need to withstand the peak use of air conditioning, and transport systems need to operate under temperatures for which they were not designed. The Sentinel-3 image, with its continent in red, is a visual reminder that climate change is not a projection for the future, it is the present seen from space.
Did you know that the heatwave in Europe is so intense that it appears from space? What impresses you the most: the 35°C in London in May, the Sentinel-3 image, or the link with deaths in the UK? Tell us in the comments.
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