Last July was one of the hottest ever recorded since records were kept, the World Meteorological Organization, the specialized UN agency based in Geneva, said today.

"We can say that this year's July is one of the three hottest ever recorded, with an intense and long-lasting heat wave that has affected many parts of Europe," said Claire Nullis, spokeswoman for the organization.

It was announced at the press conference that July this year was only marginally colder than the one two years ago, but also slightly warmer than 2016.

"But the temperature difference between those three months was really very small," Nullis said.

At the global level, the temperature recorded last month is 0,4 degrees Celsius higher than the reference for the period from 1991 to 2020, and this in conditions where a "cooling effect" was expected due to the natural phenomenon La Niña.

Last month, the World Meteorological Organization called on world leaders to "wake up", warning that Europe is going through a series of unusual heat waves which, due to climate change, will become more frequent and occur continuously until at least 2060.