Global warming persists, underscores EU climate observer, as international temperature record run comes to a halt
In July 2025, Europe experienced significant climate change impacts, including record-breaking temperatures, severe flooding, wildfires, and marine heatwaves.
July 2025 was the third-warmest July on record globally, with a global average surface air temperature of 16.68°C, which is 1.25°C above the pre-industrial baseline. Europe was the fastest-warming continent, and the month marked multiple regional records. Fennoscandia, a geographic region that includes the Scandinavian peninsula, Finland, the Kola Peninsula, and Karelia, experienced Europe's most pronounced above-average temperatures. Finland had three straight weeks of 30°C heat in July 2025, with scientists saying it was the longest streak since records began in 1961. A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30°C for 13 days in July 2025.
Regarding extreme weather in July 2025, Europe continued to suffer from intense flooding, wildfires, and heatwaves. Severe floods affected various parts of Europe, including southern France and Paris, where intense rain caused severe flooding. Spain saw widespread flooding after torrential rain hit Catalonia and northeastern Spain. Italy also experienced severe weather, with landslides and floods across Rome and the Piedmont region.
Extensive wildfires have burned 208,000 hectares in the first half of 2025 alone, with deadly wildfires particularly severe in southwest France in early August, linked to ongoing heatwaves. So far in the EU this year, a total of 353,862 hectares of land have burned, more than twice the area burnt during the same period last year. The Iberian Peninsula declared a state of alert over the weekend due to the worsening risk of wildfires.
Frequent and severe heatwaves affected Europe, significantly stressing vulnerable populations and contributing to drought conditions that dry soils and water bodies, raising fire risks and reducing agricultural productivity. Hot weather and dry conditions, following an unusually dry and warm spring, fueled fires across southern Europe last month.
Marine heatwaves also intensified in 2025, building on the unprecedented surge observed in 2023 and 2024. Mediterranean sea surface temperatures reached record highs for June 2025, e.g., 26.01°C on June 29, about 3-4°C above average. This exacerbates heatwaves on land and poses severe risks to marine biodiversity, fisheries, and weather patterns across southern Europe and North Africa. The UK and North Sea regions also saw marine heatwaves with temperatures up to 4°C warmer than usual.
In summary, July 2025 in Europe showed a continuation of the climate crisis with record or near-record temperatures, increased flooding, extensive wildfires, and dangerous marine heatwaves driven by human-induced global warming, despite a slight cooling from the previous two record-hot years. Climate change has not stopped, as stated by Carlo Buontempo, C3S Director, who added that the recent streak of record global temperatures "is over - for now."
[1] EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data [2] European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) data [3] European Drought Observatory (EDO) data [4] Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) [5] European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) data
Scientists in July 2025 attributed the extreme weather events in Europe, such as record-breaking temperatures, severe flooding, wildfires, and marine heatwaves, to human-induced global warming, as revealed by EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data. Environmental science further emphasized the implications of climate change on the weather, with the rapid warming observed in Europe contributing to a higher risk of future extreme weather events.
