The 2018 European drought and heat wave is a period of unusually hot weather that has led to record-breaking temperatures and wildfires in many parts of Europe during the spring and summer of 2018. It is part of a larger heat wave affecting the northern hemisphere, caused by the jet stream being weaker and further north than usual, trapping hot high-pressure air above North America, Europe, and Asia, and blocking low-pressure systems that would bring cooler air and rainfall.[1] According to the European Drought Observatory most of the areas affected by drought are across northern and central Europe.[2]