Over 50 degrees in Türkiye: Where and when was it hottest on Earth?

The mercury is no longer rising, it's spiraling out of control. Hit by extreme heat, Turkey has just broken its record with 50.5°C reached in Silopi, in the southeast of the country. It's even worse in Iraq, with 51°C recorded in Baghdad on Monday, July 28, and in several southern provinces. Greece is also sweltering, with temperatures exceeding 45°C in the west of the country and over 42°C in Athens.

These heat peaks exceed those experienced in France during the heatwaves of late June and early July . The thermometer then climbed to 41°C in places in Vaucluse, but also in Gard and Aude. These temperatures are difficult to bear, but they remain far from the French or world records.

In France, the absolute maximum temperature was recorded on June 28, 2019, in Vérargues, Hérault. That day, the temperature reached 46°C. Extreme heat for a temperate country, but still more than ten degrees below the world record.

It was in the United States, in the aptly named Death Valley, California, that the highest temperature ever recorded by meteorologists was reached, more than a hundred years ago. On July 10, 1913, the mercury rose to a terrifying 56.7°C. In this continental desert climate, it never drops below 25°C in the summer. For this reason, Death Valley is "as symbolic a place for meteorologists as Everest is for geographers," recalls the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) .

A previous record of 57.7°C, reportedly reached on September 13, 1922, in El Azizia, Libya, was invalidated a century later by the World Meteorological Organization due to methodological doubts. After North America, however, it was Africa that experienced the hottest temperature ever recorded: on July 7, 1931, it was 55°C in the city of Kebili, Tunisia.

The scorching temperatures of recent days in Greece and Turkey, however, remain below the records recorded in Asia or the Middle East, where the 54°C mark has already been reached several times. This was the case in Israel in June 1942 during the British Mandate, but also much more recently, in Kuwait in July 2016 and in Pakistan in May 2017.

For Oceania, the record dates back to January 1960, when it reached 50.7°C in Oodnadatta, Australia. Like Death Valley in the United States, this region is subject to an arid desert climate characterized by year-round drought that restricts animal and plant life. In January 2022, the same temperature was reached in Onslow, in the west of the country.

In South America, the hottest temperature ever recorded was 48.9°C, in Rivadavia, Argentina, in December 1905. Located in the north of the country, the region is characterized by a hot and semi-arid climate.

In Europe, Greece has long had the highest temperature. Athens reached 48°C on July 10, 1977. A record was broken on August 11, 2021, in Italy, with 48.8°C recorded in Syracuse.

In the Arctic, WMO records recorded a temperature of 38°C on June 20, 2020, in the Russian city of Verkhoyansk. An unimaginable temperature for a location located beyond the Arctic Circle.