The global temperature in 2025 reached 14.97 degrees, placing the year as the third warmest ever recorded.
Only 2024 and 2023 surpassed these figures in 176 years of meteorological statistics.
Last year was just 0.01 degrees cooler than 2023 and 0.13 degrees warmer than 2024, according to the report from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
In this way, the global temperature was 0.59 degrees above the average for the 1991-2020 period.
The triennium in which the global temperature crossed the Paris threshold
The period 2023-2025 marked a worrying milestone: the average global temperature exceeded for the first time the 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900).
This limit, established in the Paris Agreement, aimed to curb global warming.
In 2025, the average surface air temperature was 1.47 degrees higher than the pre-industrial level, although the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) placed it at 1.44 degrees.
“The world is rapidly approaching the long-term global temperature limit set by the Paris Agreement,” indicated Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
The expert warned that the planet is “destined to surpass it” and that the current choice is “how to best manage that inevitable overshoot”.
Europe also recorded heat records
For Europe, 2025 was also the third warmest year, with an average temperature of 10.41 degrees.
This figure was 0.30 degrees below the 2024 record and 1.17 degrees above the historical average.
Annual global temperatures also reached their highest value in Antarctica and the second highest in the Arctic.
Additionally, records were observed in the northwestern and southwestern Pacific, the northeastern Atlantic, the far eastern and northwestern Europe, and in Central Asia.
The causes and consequences of the record global temperature
The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere mainly explains the increase in global temperature.
Currently, sea surface temperatures are exceptionally high, which is associated with El Niño and other ocean variability factors that worsened the situation in 2025.
“The year 2025 began and ended with La Niña and yet was one of the warmest recorded,” summarized Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the WMO.
The Argentine expert emphasized that this was due to “the accumulation of gases that trap heat in our atmosphere.”
Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at C3S, stated: “There is no country or city that has escaped climate change.”
In 2025, half of the world’s land surface experienced more days with severe heat stress (heat index of 32°C or higher).
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes this phenomenon as the main cause of climate-related deaths worldwide.
Moreover, high global temperatures in dry and windy areas contributed to the spread of wildfires in parts of Europe, including Spain, and North America.
These fires produced toxic air pollutants that affected air quality in various regions.
Projections for the coming years
The last 11 years remain the warmest since records began, confirmed the WMO.
The current level of long-term global warming is about 1.4 degrees above the pre-industrial level.
“The 1.5-degree limit could be reached by the end of this decade, more than a decade earlier than expected,” warned the ECMWF report.
Mauro Facchini, head of Earth Observation at the European Commission, noted: “None of us wanted to reach this milestone.”
It is possible that 2026 will be among the five warmest years and that another phenomenon like El Niño will occur.
“It’s only a matter of time. It’s not a question of if it will happen, but when,” warned Buontempo about the next climate event that could further raise global temperatures.
