Never before has Rimini experienced such a hot summer since records began. The 2026 meteorological season closed with an average temperature of 26.3°C, the highest ever recorded since 1955. The figure exceeds the 1961-1990 average by 3.8 degrees and the 1991-2020 average by 2.3 degrees.
The heat was accompanied by a severe lack of rainfall. Over the entire summer, only 66 millimetres of rain fell, placing 2026 fifth among the driest summers since 1958. The deficit reaches 65% compared with the 1961-1990 average and 61% compared with 1991-2020. Only ten days saw any precipitation at all.
The Adriatic Sea also recorded off-the-scale values. Average water temperature stood at 27.3°C, a new seasonal record and 2.6 degrees above the 1991-2020 thirty-year average.
It was August, however, that pushed the figures even higher. With an average temperature of 27.7°C, August 2026 turned out to be not only the hottest August since 1955, but the hottest month in the entire history of Rimini’s weather records. The gap stood at +4.7 degrees compared with the 1961-1990 average and +3.1 degrees compared with 1991-2020.
Rainfall remained scarce in the final month of summer too: 18 millimetres of rain fell over just three days, with a deficit of 75% compared with the 1961-1990 average and 69% compared with the more recent thirty-year period.
The sea also set a new high. In August, the average Adriatic temperature off Rimini reached 29.1°C, 2.8 degrees above the 1991-2020 average.
The data, compiled by Roberto Nanni, thus consign to the record books a summer marked simultaneously by record-breaking temperatures, exceptionally scarce rainfall and an unusually warm Adriatic Sea.
