Satellite Image Shows Red-Hot Mediterranean Sea — What Does It Mean?

A striking Copernicus visualisation shows large areas of the Mediterranean covered in red and dark red. The image represents exceptionally warm surface water recorded after intense late-June heat affected western and central Europe.

The sea is not literally red, and the colours do not show absolute water temperatures. They reveal how far conditions on 29 June 2026 differed from the long-term seasonal average—and some differences were extreme.