The hottest summer in years? Experts reveal what Europe can expect in the coming months

Europe is bracing for another hot summer, as extremely high temperatures are expected in Germany and the Nordic countries next week. Cities across the continent are preparing to adapt to extreme heat.

There have been 11 record hot months so far and surface water temperatures in the North Atlantic have risen to their highest level in at least 40 years.

Meteorologist Tamsin Green says that June, July and August will be above average in terms of temperature. Weather across the continent varies widely making it difficult to predict where a hot summer might hit. Green says there are likely to be hotspots in southern and eastern Europe.

Western Europe may record average rainfall in June, followed by above average rainfall for Southern Europe in July, but drier conditions in the East. August, she adds, could be drier for much of the continent.

Europe is warming faster than the global average. However, there is one factor that plays a major role in the continent's increasingly warm summers, and that is climate change.

Europe has warmed at twice the global average since 1991, according to the latest data from the World Meteorological Organization and the EU climate agency Copernicus. The continent is no exception when it comes to the consequences of climate change with both agencies warning that Europe must do more to reduce its emissions and move away from fossil fuels.

The latest five-year average shows that temperatures in Europe are now 2.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels compared to 1.3 degrees higher globally. Because of this data, meteorologist Green believes "with a fairly good degree of certainty" that 2024 will probably be another record temperature year.