File:New Heatwave in Central and Western Europe.jpg

English: In September 2020, temperatures typical of mid-summer were recorded across Central and Western Europe, mostly in France. Highs of 35°C have been observed in some areas, breaking many old air temperature records. According to ECMWF, these values exceeded the reference value for the period 1979 - 2010 by more than 12°C. This image shows the Land Surface Temperature (LST) map over central-western Europe as recorded by one of the two Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 14 September 2020. This LST is the temperature of the soil and should not be confused with the air temperature. In this map the areas of France where the LST has reached more of 45°C are evidenced (a record value for this period of the year since the start of the Sentinel-3 acquisitions) . The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission is composed of two twin satellite (Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B) that are both equipped with the Sentinel-3 Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer, an instrument whose main objective is to provide global and regional Sea and Land Surface Temperature (SST, LST) with a very high level of accuracy (for both climatological and meteorological applications).