W hen Europe is witnessing one of the worst summers with its roads melting and rail tracks getting twisted owing to the scorching heat, India, a country that has recently been through another hell of heat, is cooling down due to the arrival of monsoon. In July 2019, the comparison between these two places has provided an example of how the same climate factor, monsoon, can change the climatic condition of a country while its neighboring areas face no respite from their scorching heat.
Beginning late May, heat waves have hit Europe, shattering temperature records in Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. There was one heat wave beginning May 24, followed by another, more potent wave beginning June 17 that caused temperatures to peak at an all-time high in France, confirmed by French National Weather Service, Météo-France, on June 23.
The effects have not been limited to discomfort alone. European officials have been busy trying to cope with the issue of melting train tracks and road buckles because of the extreme heat resulting in train delays and cancellations in Belgium, Denmark, France, and the UK due to buckled roads, deformed train tracks, and overheated train air conditioning systems.
This is what the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has referred to as a mere taste of things to come; by 2050-2080, 90% of Europe’s E-rail network will see 10 extra days a year with temperatures above 25°C, and 10 extra days of 32°C or higher compared to the 1970-2000 period.
But not all viral photos have been proven to be true. In reality, the videos that showed traffic lights melting in Verona and Berlin turned out to be completely unrelated footage of cars burning down due to fire and not because of melting from the heat.
The actual problem, however, is not being denied. For example, there were over 2,000 extra deaths associated with the heat wave in June in France, over 1,000 in Spain, which had its second hottest June ever, and 18 deaths in France when the heat wave was just starting.
It was also a very hot season in India back in the year 2026. It was summer when all the 50 hottest cities in the whole wide world were located in India, with 26 of those 50 cities located in Uttar Pradesh. During this period on the 27th of May, the highest temperature recorded worldwide was recorded in Sri Ganganagar of Rajasthan at 48.2°C, while the next highest places in temperature were Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, with temperatures ranging from 45°C to 48°C. The maximum power usage set a new record of 270.82 GW in the month of May.
This is no longer the case with the onset of the southwest monsoon in June and July.
Moisture and Cloud Formation
While the Indian monsoon comprises the inflow of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal branches of moist air, thereby creating heavy clouds and rainfall, the European heat wave has come into existence due to the heat dome and high pressure prevailing in the region, causing trapped hot and dry air with no clouds, hence the heating up of the Earth's surface through solar radiation for several days.
According to the latest information issued on the 4th of July by IMD, a low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal will continue the active phase of monsoon for the coming 4-5 days in Central India. It is worth mentioning here that the southwest monsoon has already entered Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, which have suffered most due to the pre-monsoon heat wave recently.
Nevertheless, there is no certainty or homogeneity regarding the relief provided by the monsoons in India.
June precipitation in India is about 40% below average, while the July outlook from the IMD shows that the month's rainfall will be below average along with above-average day and night temperatures for most areas except those that have already received the rains from the monsoon front.
The development of El Niño in the Equatorial Pacific region is cited as one of the causes for the depressed monsoon due to its weakening effect on monsoon winds.
The two news items above are manifestations of the same broader pattern that climate change researchers have warned about for several years now—heatwaves are happening earlier, longer, and more intensely in both regions. While the summer months of India in 2026, 2025, and 2024 have been increasingly hotter, with 2025 being the first time a heat wave occurred in winter in India, experts have suggested that heat waves should be recognized as notified hazards under the Disaster Management Act in India since, according to a Harvard-backed white paper, heat waves are the deadliest climate risk in the world.
