June 2019: Hottest ever around the world

Temperatures passed 50 Celsius in northern India as a heatwave triggered warnings of water shortages and heatstroke

Last month was officially the hottest June ever recorded, according to experts.

It got really hot around the world, with Europe seeing temperatures rise to more than 2 Celsius above normal.

There was a five-day heatwave across the continent, breaking records in France which saw the country's hottest day ever and a temperature of 45.9 Celsius last week!

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service - a satellite agency that keeps tabs on Europe's weather for the European Union - globally, average temperatures were also at an all-time high for June, beating the previous record set in 2016 by 0.1 Celsius.

Why was June so hot?

Some people cooled off in a fountain near the Eiffel Tower, France, but schools had to be closed and warnings issues about the dangers of the heatwave

In part, it was because of something called the Spanish plume, which was lots of hot air that travelled north from the Saharan desert, over Spain and across the UK and Europe.

Three years ago, when June was also unusually warm, it was thanks to something called 'El Niño' when sea surface temperatures became warmer than usual.

Copernicus Climate Change Service, which provides climate information, says it is difficult to know whether this year's heat wave was directly caused by climate change.

However, it added: "Such extreme weather events are expected to become more common as the planet continues to warm under increasing greenhouse gas."

A child cools off under a fountain in Montpellier, southern France

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution say that the record-breaking heat wave that struck France and other countries was made at least five - and possibly 100 - times more likely by climate change.

It also says that heatwaves are also about 4 Celsius hotter than 100 years ago and are happening more often than expected.

Young climate change activist Greta Thunberg says this is further evidence of global warming: "This is the hottest June on record in Europe by a country mile, and the warmest June we have ever seen globally."