The summer of 2026 in France and Corsica was one of the hottest and most extreme on record, with temperatures, drought, and wildfires reaching unprecedented levels. According to Météo-France, the national weather service, the average temperature for the summer was 24°C, making it the hottest summer since records began in 1900. This surpassed the previous record set in 2003 by nearly 1°C, and nine of the ten hottest summers have occurred in the past twelve years, highlighting a concerning trend of rising temperatures. The national thermal indicator, which measures the average temperature of the region, was above normal for 83 out of the 92 days between June 1 and August 31. The hottest day ever recorded in France was June 25, when the average temperature reached 30°C—more than 10°C above the seasonal average. Previously, the highest recorded value was 29.4°C, set in 2003 and again in 2019. Extreme heat was widespread, with 758 of the 1,852 weather stations in France and Corsica recording temperatures above 40°C. The highest readings were in Pruniers (Indre) at 45.2°C, Les Herbiers (Vendée) at 44.7°C, and Bordeaux (Gironde) at 44.6°C. Not only were the days scorching, but the nights were also unusually warm. Tropical nights—nights where the temperature never dropped below 20°C—were recorded across the country. Paris experienced 29 such nights, while Capo Sagro in Corsica saw up to 83 tropical nights. In Nice, the temperature stayed above 20°C for 75 consecutive nights, showing that the heat was not just a daytime phenomenon. The extreme heat was accompanied by a severe drought. In June, only half the average rainfall for the country was recorded, and July was the third driest since 1959. Even thunderstorms later in the summer could not make up for the lack of rain, leading to water use restrictions in over 80% of the country. These restrictions affected rivers, streams, and surface water, highlighting the severity of the drought. The combination of drought and high temperatures led to numerous wildfires, particularly in July and August. The largest fire, in Porge (Gironde), burned over 42,000 hectares between July 22 and August 1. Other significant fires included those in Fontainebleau, Solaure-en-Diois, and Pontevès, burning thousands of hectares each. According to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), nearly 70,000 hectares of forest and vegetation were burned between June and August, a record since 2006. This amount was seven times higher than the average from 2015 to 2025 and 50% more than in the fire-prone year of 2022.