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Giada Zampano, Kirsten Grieshaber and Justin Spike, The Associated Press
Italy placed all 27 of major cities on red alert yesterday, marking the first time in 2026 that its “entire network” has been simultaneously placed under the highest warning level, reports the Associated Press. The newswire continues that, in Slovakia, temperatures reached a new all-time high of 42.2C yesterday and low levels of water in the Danube river has forced the shutdown of seven of eight turbines of the country’s biggest hydroelectric power plant. This comes after Austria – “also facing severe drought” – recorded an all-time high temperature of 41.2 C on Wednesday, according to the newswire. The Guardian also rounds up extreme weather across Europe, noting that Poland has shut down two coal-fired power plants after “critically low” water levels in the Vistula river limited cooling water supplies. The disruption removed about 1.3GW of capacity from Poland’s power system, it says.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Bulgaria is the “latest EU country to be hit by wildfires” and notes that Hungary has switched off “non-essential lighting” at all state institutions at night to save energy, as record-low water levels on the Danube forced it to “largely shut down” its sole nuclear plant. Euractiv reports that Europe’s wildfires have “ease[d] as the blazes move north”.
MORE ON EUROPE
Romania has sunk four rock-filled barges in the Danube in an attempt to divert water to a nuclear power plant, according to Associated Press. Le Monde: “France's EDF to invest €9bn over 15 years to adapt power plants to climate change.” Bloomberg explores how German politicians are “contront[ing]” the threat of a “chronic” lack of water in the Rhine river. Italy’s finance minister says the country will use the relaxation of EU spending rules to invest 0.6% of its GDP on “green energy”, reports E&E News. The EU’s environment commissioner tells Reuters that it will push its member countries to invest more in environmental management to reduce wildfire risk. Euractiv: “EU delays political blueprint for electricity grid integration again”. Sources tell Politico that officials and electricity operators in France are planning a blackout drill in 2027 to test the country’s crisis response.
Joe Lo, Climate Home News
About a quarter of the countries signed up to the Paris Agreement are still breaching its rules by failing to submit a new national climate plan, some 18 months after the official February 2026 deadline, reports Climate Home News. The outlet covers a newly published report by the “Paris Agreement implementation and compliance committee” revealing that 45 countries have not submitted a “nationally determined contribution”. Of this number, 12 have ignored the committee's ”repeated attempts” to find out why they had not yet produced a climate plan, says Climate Home News. The outlet notes that members of the committee are divided on whether to name these countries publicly and will debate the question again at its next meeting in September.
Brad Plumer, The New York Times
A US federal judge has ordered the Pentagon to lift a freeze on reviewing onshore wind projects and to end some of the delays that have “brought US wind power development to a standstill”, reports the New York Times. It continues that the judge – Karin Immergut of Portland, Oregon – issued a “preliminary injunction” in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of renewable energy groups against the department of defense. The groups, it says, argued that the Trump administration has unlawfully delayed “dozens of wind projects” across the country by halting military reviews “once considered routine”. Reuters reports that Immergut – a “Trump appointee” – ruled that the renewable energy groups were “likely to show the Pentagon violated statutory and regulatory deadlines” established by Congress for the reviews. Bloomberg says the injunction will stay in place until the lawsuit plays out.
The ruling comes amid widespread reporting that German energy developer RWE has reached a $1.2bn settlement with the Trump administration to walk away from wind projects in New York, California and Louisiana. This latest agreement brings the total amount spent on such settlements to nearly $4bn, says the Associated Press. Reuters notes the latest arrangement is the “fifth and largest” that the administration has entered into in 2026 as part of its “wide-ranging effort to stop development of offshore wind projects”. As part of the deal, RWE will “direct the funds to LNG [liquified natural gas] and natural gas power plant projects”, it says.
MORE ON NORTH AMERICA
There is continuing coverage of a World Weather Attribution study that found that climate change fuelled Canada’s wildfires. In its coverage, the Guardian notes there are currently “nearly 700 fires ablaze across Canada”. Reuters notes that wildfires have prompted an evacuation alert in the broader Vancouver metropolitan area. Mexico has banned fracking in a “key” basin, with President Claudia Sheinbaum citing its location in a densely populated area, says Bloomberg. Trump has ordered new tariffs and price floors on imported polysilicon used in semiconductors and solar panels, reports Bloomberg. Republican senators have proposed repealing landmark California vehicle emissions rules in a bid to stop the state imposing stricter tailpipe requirements than the federal government, according to Reuters. Trump will host a meeting with mining executives designed to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to wean the nation off critical mineral supply chains dominated by China, says Bloomberg.
Sarah Butler, The Guardian
Shoppers stayed away from UK high streets during last month’s heatwave temperatures, with “many choosing to buy online instead as the mercury in some areas rose into the mid-30Cs”, reports the Guardian. The newspaper adds: “Trips to high streets were down by 3.8% year on year in July after a 6.2% fall in June, according to research from the monitoring firm Sensormatic for the British Retail Consortium (BRC)…Overall there was a 2.1% decrease in numbers attending all shopping destinations compared with the same month last year. Helen Dickinson, the BRC chief executive, said: ‘The heatwave continued to bear down on retail footfall in July, with high streets worst affected. London was hit particularly hard as soaring temperatures made tube and train travel less attractive, with some commuters and shoppers opting to stay home.’”
MORE ON UK
The Guardian reports that wildfires – including some thousands of miles away – account for “about 10%” of the UK’s particle pollution. The Daily Express covers criticism from environmental campaigner Chris Packham and Green Party leader Zack Polanski of the government’s response to extreme heat. The Guardian: “Octopus Energy denies it is anti-union as GMB pushes for recognition for workers.” The Economist looks at how the UK’s shifting climate threatens wheat farmers. The Guardian’s “politics weekly” podcast asks why UK politicians are “slow to act” on extreme heat.
Matteo Civillini, Climate Home News
China brought 30 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power capacity online in the first six months of the year, with coal-fired generation rising 3% after falling last year, according to a new report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM), notes Climate Home News. However, the report finds that estimated curtailment rates for wind and solar were up by 49% compared to last year, which would have been “more than enough to meet the extra demand and drive coal power down”, if China had been able to utilise them, adds the outlet. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post also covers the story, citing the report as saying that “the rebound in coal power generation reflected limits in grid integration, dispatch and power trading rather than a national shortage of clean electricity”. Christine Shearer at GEM says that China’s energy market is seeing “mixed signals” as record numbers of new coal plants continue to enter operation despite the call for “tighter control of coal”.
MORE ON CHINA
Reuters reports that more than 25,000 people in north-western China have been evacuated in the past 24 hours due to heavy rains and floods. Xinhua says that local authorities have taken measures to strengthen flood and drought prevention amid extreme weather events across the country. China announced 16 new “green” aviation fuel production projects in the first half of 2026, compared with four in the rest of the world, reports Caixin. Extreme weather events have “dealt repeated blows” to Malaysian orchards of durian as demand for the fruit booms in China, reports the Associated Press. Caixin says that countries in south-east Asia have “rolled out aggressive policies” to subsidise and develop their solar industries since the start of the Iran war. More than half of China’s belt-and-road energy engagement was directed to “green projects” in the first half of 2026, reports China Daily.
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