Europe's scorched landscapes seen from space after summer heatwaves

7 minutes ago Barbara Metzler, Mark Poynting and Paul Brown BBC Verify Sentinel-2, Copernicus The impact of the heat has been noticeable in satellite imagery. The impact of this summer's extreme temperatures on western Europe can now be seen from space after successive heatwaves since May. Satellite images examined by BBC Verify show shrunken glaciers, scorched areas left by wildfires, green fields turned arid and lower river levels. And some landmarks have been affected, too. The Palace of Versailles, south of the French capital Paris, appears as an island of trees surrounded by brown fields in these images. The EU's climate monitoring service, Copernicus, has confirmed that western Europe experienced its hottest June-to-July period on record. The immediate cause of the heatwaves has been persistent high-pressure weather systems bringing clear, sunny skies and allowing temperatures to build, according to the Met Office. But climate change, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels, has been raising average temperatures for decades and making hot spells much more likely and intense. We've taken a look at how the sweltering weather has left its mark on landscapes across the continent. Rivers run drier. The waters of the Danube, Europe's second-longest river, have dropped to their lowest levels for 30 years in several countries. This has led to unusual discoveries on the river bed, including the bones of a mammoth in Bulgaria and a sunken WW2 warship in Serbia. Nuclear power stations in Hungary and Romania have been forced to shut down or run at reduced capacity due to river water shortages. On the Rhine, cargo vessels have been stranded, and river cruises have been cancelled. Retreating glaciers in the Alps. Even the snow-capped peaks of the Alps have not escaped the heat. Ongoing measurements suggest this summer could become one of the worst ever recorded for melting Alpine glaciers, with more than a month of the season still to go. After a mild winter, glaciers had less snow cover than usual at the end of April, and an early heatwave accelerated melting. Satellite imagery shows Rhône Glacier in Switzerland has retreated by 50m (160ft) or more since the same time last year. Dr Lander van Tricht, a glaciologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, states that climate change has led to "much less snow in winter and much, much more melt in summer." If this trend continues, the future for the Alps looks dramatic. Wildfires turn landscapes brown. Wildfires have transformed parts of western Europe this summer. Over 90,000 hectares (900 sq km or 350 sq miles) have burned in France, marking its worst year on record. The largest fire in Gironde region, near Bordeaux, burned about 42,000 hectares. Extreme wildfires are becoming more frequent due to climate change, creating ideal conditions with higher temperatures drying out vegetation and soils faster. Satellite imagery shows a striking increase in browning of land compared to last year. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) this summer came below a five-year benchmark (2021–2025) across about 70% of France. Close to half the UK and roughly 40% of western Germany also showed similar stress. Prof Andrew Challinor from the University of Leeds said the images were consistent with widespread water stress, which could negatively impact agriculture and food production. Soil moisture in worst-affected areas is lower than on about 98% of comparable dates in the historical record, according to Prof Luis Samaniego from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. Even if rain returns, some agricultural damage may already be done.