Spain, Romania, and Cyprus are to receive €144 million in EU funding to help them recover from extreme weather events experienced in 2025.

The European Parliament approved the funding from the European Union Solidarity Fund, which had been proposed by the European Commission in May, earlier this week.

Referring to the funding on social media, Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, said: “When natural disasters strike, it is families and local communities that carry the heaviest burden.

“By mobilising €144 million through the EU Solidarity Fund for areas in Spain, Romania and Cyprus affected by devastating floods, wildfires and heatwaves, the European Parliament is helping people recover and rebuild.

“Europe stands together when it matters most.”

Temperatures

High temperatures also impacted several EU countries last month, with June 2026 being the hottest June recorded for western Europe

This is according to the latest data from Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

It was also the second warmest June globally, the C3S noted.

Its latest report stated that June saw near-record temperatures driven by the highest sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on record for the month. 

As a result, Europe was hit by extreme heat over land and sea, with much of western Europe experiencing a record-breaking heatwave and marine heatwaves across the western Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coasts.  

The weather service said: “The heatwave that hit much of Europe during the second half of June came only a few weeks after a particularly intense heatwave in May, with another heatwave emerging in early July.

“The succession of heatwaves illustrates the growing challenge posed by increasingly frequent and intense heat extremes across Europe and the globe.”

Europe also saw widespread dryness that, together with extreme heat, contributed to wildfire activity, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France, and heightened drought risk in parts of eastern Europe.

According to the C3S, the June heatwave occurred against a backdrop of increasingly dry soils across western and central Europe, further exacerbating drought conditions that had begun to develop during May's heatwave.

France

Separately, France has offered its own supports to farming communities impacted by the recent unseasonable heat.

In response to the heatwave affecting France, Annie Genevard, Minister of Agriculture, Food Processing, and Food Sovereignty, announced a new series of measures to support farmers.

These include meeting with insurance companies to review crop insurance and ensure that compensation is accelerated; and setting up a support scheme for farmers to finance diagnostics or equipment (such as misting or ventilation) to limit the effects of heat in livestock building

The department is also studying the implementation of a support system for the transport of fodder in order to facilitate solidarity operations between farmers if the availability of feed for livestock becomes insufficient due to drought.

The minister said: "As always, farmers are on the front line in the face of successive crises."

On Monday (July 6), on social media, she referred to the unseasonable heat again: “In the face of this unprecedented situation, my ministry has shifted into ‘crisis management’ mode, and I am following daily the evolution of the problems it is causing for our agriculture in every department.”