Heatwave: Satellite image shows surface temperatures like in summer
In large parts of Europe, it was recently as hot as in midsummer. A satellite image clearly shows the extent based on surface temperatures.
(Image: Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by ESA/CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
The current heatwave in large parts of Europe is now even reflected in satellite images. This is shown by an image from the European Space Agency ESA, which is based on data from the Copernicus Earth observation program. It shows the surface temperatures in Europe and that at the beginning of the week they were well above 30 degrees Celsius in large parts of Southern and Western Europe as well as Great Britain. In summer, surface temperatures can be significantly higher than air temperatures because stones and earth store heat for much longer, explains the ESA.
Heat records are tumbling
The current heatwave has been ongoing for days, with seasonal records being set in several countries. For example, air temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius were reached in Great Britain, which is well above the previous May record. In Ireland, too, previous record highs were significantly exceeded, adds the ESA. However, the heat is not limited to Western Europe; record temperatures of more than 32 degrees Celsius were also measured in Hungary. In Southern and Central Europe, in Italy, Spain, Germany, and Switzerland, there were unusually high air temperatures, especially over the Pentecost weekend. The measurement of ground temperatures dates from Tuesday.
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The European Earth observation program Copernicus currently comprises 11 satellites named Sentinel and numbered. They are grouped into six core groups that collect different data. They continuously observe the Earth's surface and oceans, as well as the Earth's atmosphere. The collected data is freely available on the Internet, as are the regularly taken satellite images with a resolution of 10 m. The ground temperature measurements come from Sentinel-3B, which, among other things, measures sea level heights and can take multispectral images. The satellite covers the entire globe every two days.
(mho)
