GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

JUNE 2026

UNITED STATES

A 39-year-old woman died in Tennessee while trying to save her son from high flood waters on Sunday morning, according to officials. The death of Mary Evelyn Nicole Manning-Kellione was among at least five reported during flooding in recent days in a region encompassing Tennessee and Kentucky. Manning-Kellione had reportedly seen her son get swept into a culvert – or drain – when she went in to rescue him. Her son was swept through the culvert to the other side of it, but Manning-Kellione became stuck and drowned, the sheriff’s office of Grainger County, Tennessee, said. “The son was able to surface at the other end and came to safety when he realized his mother was in the water,” the agency said in a statement. “Rescue personnel located the individual lodged inside the culvert.” A post on Facebook described how Manning-Kellione’s son realized only afterward that his mother had entered the water for him and had not emerged. “Mary is the tragic and perfect example of the absolute superhuman lengths a mother will go to for her children,” said the post, calling Manning-Kellione “a real-life super mom”.

A long and dangerous heatwave will blast a large swath of the central and eastern United States for the upcoming week, the National Weather Service (NWS) said on Sunday – with temperatures rising ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and feeling even hotter because of high humidity also arriving. Already parts of the US, especially Phoenix and central Texas, and much of the south-west were experiencing temperatures of about 100F (38C) on Sunday. At the same time, the NWS warned of severe wildfire conditions developing across much of the west as new fires popped up across the region. On Sunday, more than 130 million Americans across southern and Great Plains states were under moderate to severe heat risk conditions, according to NWS maps, with that area forecast to expand and temperatures to intensify as the week drags on. Forecasters say several days of high temperatures – some above 100F – will settle in across the lower Great Lakes, the mid-Atlantic and the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Some record highs could be set in areas from the lower Great Lakes to the mid-Atlantic and New England later in the week, NWS meteorologist Bryan Putnam said. Several big cities could see their highest temperatures of the year so far as they host World Cup matches and celebrations for the US’s 250th anniversary. Feeling the heat will be the east coast cities of New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore, and midwestern and Great Lakes cities including Chicago, Indianapolis, St Louis and Detroit. Southern cities such as Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee, will also see high temperatures. High heat will last into next weekend across the Great Plains, the south-east and the mid-Atlantic, the NWS said. Temperatures will reach well into the 90s and low 100sF, the NWS said. High humidity will lead to heat indices of 100-110F, and as high as 115F.

EUROPE

Spain and France are bracing for another possible heatwave that could bring temperatures of 44C (111F) over the coming days, as figures show that June’s extreme heat was responsible for more than 2,000 excess deaths in the two countries. Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, said a mass of dry and very hot air would bring persistently high temperatures to much of Spain from Saturday, adding that temperatures in parts of the south-east could hit 42C to 44C on Tuesday. “Temperatures will begin to rise over the weekend, and we can’t rule out another heatwave,” said Rubén del Campo, an Aemet spokesperson. The agency said the high temperatures could increase the likelihood of forest fires next week and warned older people and those with cardiovascular problems to take extra care in the daytime heat. Aemet said last month was the second-warmest June on record – surpassed only by June 2025 – with an average temperature that was 3.2C (5.8F) above the norm. Scientists have said the heatwave, which was the most severe and widespread to hit western Europe, was possible only due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning.

Germany, Czechia, Poland and Hungary reached record temperatures of more than 40C on Sunday as a heatwave linked to hundreds of deaths in western Europe spread east. More than 191 million people in Europe faced temperatures of at least 35C, with extreme heat warnings across the region. Germany recorded a new all-time high of 41.7C, in Coschen, near the Polish border in eastern Brandenburg, according to preliminary data from the national weather service. This broke the previous record of 41.5C set a day earlier in Drewitz. In Gohrischheide, eastern Germany, a fire broke out in a forest contaminated with Second World War-era ammunition, complicating firefighters’ efforts. A provisional temperature of 37.3C has been reached in Santon Downham, in Suffolk, setting another record UK high for June, the Met Office said, as rare red warnings remain in place on Friday. This beats the previously reported 37.1C from earlier today, which was provisionally set in Cavendish, Suffolk this afternoon. These smashed the longstanding record for June heat – which dates back to the summer of 1976 – by more than 1C, which is significant given such records were usually broken only by a fraction of a degree in the past. Forecasters expect temperatures to reach as high as 36C in London and 35C in Manchester on Friday. Belfast and Cardiff are forecast to reach highs of 26C.

AFRICA

Floods in Côte d’Ivoire have killed 9 people since May, the communication minister told a cabinet meeting in Abidjan. There are fears the toll could further rise as rescue teams continue to search for victims during the rainy season, which runs from May until July, the minister, Amadou Coulibaly, added. The deaths are the latest in coastal west Africa, which is enduring relentless, deadly rains that authorities predict could intensify in the coming days. Footage emerged on social media of neighborhoods submerged in water as residents waded through in search of drier areas.

INDONESIA

Extreme rainfall and landslides fueled by the climate crisis killed 7% of the remaining population of the world’s rarest great ape, a study has found, prompting fears for the species’ survival. The research suggests 58 out of the remaining 800 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) were killed after more than 1,000mm (39in) of rain fell over four days in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province in November 2025. This equates to 11% of the local population and 7% of the entire species.

“It is tragic to lose so many apes in this way. In landscapes where populations are small and fragmented, this type of weather or climate event can have population-level consequences. It is extremely worrying for the future of this ape,” said Prof Serge Witch, a primatologist at Liverpool John Moores University and co-author of the study, published in the journal Current Biology. The scientists overlaid new analysis of satellite imagery with estimates of ape density to work out the impacts of Cyclone Senyar on the orangutan population in its primary habitat in the West Block of the Batang Toru ecosystem, already threatened by mining, palm oil plantations and a large hydropower project. Satellite imagery also revealed that approximately 8,300 hectares (20,510 acres) – 11.7% – of this key forest habitat were wiped out by landslides caused by extreme rainfall. The scientists said human-induced climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels had increased the rainfall intensity by up to 50%.

TROPICAL

Typhoon Mekkhala, the seventh typhoon of the season in the western Pacific, strengthened east of Luzon on Sunday with sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h) and gusts in excess of 100mph over open water, and is set to head northwards through the Philippine Sea this week. Forecast projections suggest Mekkhala will reach its peak intensity during Tuesday and Wednesday this week as sustained wind speeds break 100mph. While the typhoon is expected to remain over the Philippine Sea, it may produce large wave conditions close to Taiwan, with warnings to shipping likely. As the weakening typhoon approaches southern Japan later this week, likely downgrading to tropical storm or even an extra-tropical depression, it may produce strong winds and high seas around the coasts of southern Japan. The country is expected to see heavy rainfall already in place ahead of the typhoon remnants, and, should this rainfall interact with ex-Mekkhala, it may intensify further and bring the threat of flooding.