Tunisia, Nefza, +35.4°C – The Hottest Night ever! Palermo Colder than March Records, so far, Italy’s National Year-to-date Maximum is the Lowest ever Recorded in Modern History!

Amid an unprecedented wave of global heat records, Tunisia has now joined the list of countries setting extreme climate milestones, with Nefza registering a minimum temperature of 35.4°C, marking the hottest night ever recorded in Tunisian history.

This astonishing TMIN (nighttime low), logged overnight into July 13, means that temperatures never dropped below 35.4°C, even in the darkest, coolest hours of the night — an oppressive level of warmth more typical of desert heatwaves than coastal Mediterranean nights. It is the highest overnight temperature ever observed in Tunisia, underscoring the severity and abnormality of the ongoing heatwave across North Africa.

Such extremely high nighttime temperatures are especially dangerous. Unlike daytime heat, which often peaks briefly and then cools, record-warm nights offer no relief, compounding the risk of heat exhaustion, sleep disruption, and health emergencies, particularly for the elderly, infants, and those without air conditioning.

While Tunisia swelters under historic warmth, an ironic twist is unfolding just across the Mediterranean. In stark contrast, Italy, despite experiencing above-average temperatures for months, has not broken a single national heat record in 2025. Even more remarkable, Italy’s national year-to-date maximum is the lowest ever recorded in modern history — a bizarre statistical outlier in a year of extremes.

Adding to the paradox, Palermo Airport, typically one of the warmest stations in Sicily, recorded its hottest day of 2025 so far at a temperature lower than its March record high — a truly absurd situation in what should be Italy’s hottest season. While parts of Southern Europe have seen intense heat, Italy seems to have sat on the sidelines of this year’s most extreme spikes.

In contrast, countries across North Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East continue to topple records almost daily, including daytime highs above +47°C in Algeria and Libya, and nighttime lows remaining above 30–35°C in multiple locations — a clear indication of persistent heat domes and elevated thermal baselines.

The 35.4°C minimum in Nefza is not just a Tunisian record — it’s a global-level temperature anomaly, placing Tunisia among the hottest night temperatures ever recorded worldwide in July. As the heatwave shows no sign of weakening, more records could fall in the coming days across North Africa and southern Europe.

Illustration picture: https://www.instagram.com/nefza.cap_negro/p/Cl3MclhoUjG/