As the 2023 Western Tour began, media attention was focussed on the exceptional heat being experienced in many places around the world. Parts of the United States, Mexico, Southern Europe, and China recorded temperatures over 50 degrees Centigrade, over 40 was widespread, and one report asserted that the average temperature world-wide in the month of July was higher than for at least 100,000 years (though how this was established was not made clear). There were numerous wildfires and dramatic rescues of tourists from holiday hotels, most notably in Rhodes.