January 2025 was the warmest January on record, globally, with an average surface air temperature of 13.23°C, 0.79°C above the 1991-2020 average, new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has revealed.
According to C3S, January 2025 marks the 18th month out of the past 19 in which global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Taken as a 12-month period, from February 2024 to January 2025, average global temperatures were 0.73°C above the 1991-2020 norm.
European temperatures
In Europe, January was the second-warmest on record, with an average temperature 2.51°C above the 1991-2020 average, with southern and Eastern Europe, along with western Russia, reporting higher-than-average temperatures, while Iceland, the UK, Ireland, and northern France were cooler.
Outside of Europe, significant warmth was recorded in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as temperatures being above average over southern South America, Africa, and much of Australia and Antarctica. However temperatures were most notably below average over the United States and the easternmost regions of Russia, Chukotka and Kamchatka.
Drier than average conditions were seen in UK and Ireland, eastern Spain, and north of the Black Sea, while it was wetter than average in many parts of Western Europe, Italy, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, with some regions experiencing floods.
Wetter than average conditions were also reported in Alaska, Canada, central and eastern Russia, eastern Australia, south-eastern Africa and southern Brazil, with driver than average conditions in the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, northern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, eastern China as well as in much of southern Africa, southern South America and Australia.
Sea surface temperatures globally averaged 20.78°C, which was just 0.19°C below the record set in January 2024.
Arctic sea ice reached its lowest extent for the month of January, at 6% below average, while Antarctic sea ice was 5% below average for the month.
‘A surprising month’
“January 2025 is another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed throughout the last two years, despite the development of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and their temporary cooling effect on global temperatures,” commented Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF. “Copernicus will continue to closely monitor ocean temperatures and their influence on our evolving climate throughout 2025.” Read more here.
