World Data from the Copernicus Observatory reveals August 2025 as the third warmest August on record globally.
In the summer of 2025, a series of extreme heatwaves scorched various parts of the world, setting new temperature records and highlighting the urgency of addressing climate change.
According to the European Center managing Copernicus, these events underscore the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to more frequent and intense climate extremes. The Copernicus program, which covers data from the last 85 years, recorded the third warmest August ever recorded on Earth.
The average temperature on land and oceans in August 2025 was 1.29°C higher than the pre-industrial era (1850-1900). Western Europe, particularly the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France, experienced the highest air temperatures above average, with cities like Bordeaux, Bergerac, and Angoulême in France breaking absolute records on August 11, 2025.
France's Minister of Ecological Transition announced that the summer of 2025 was the third warmest in France since the beginning of measurements in 1900. The summer also saw the third major heatwave of the season in the southwest of Europe, accompanied by exceptional forest fires.
Spain suffered an unprecedented heatwave lasting 16 days, causing over 1,100 deaths, according to estimates from the Carlos III Health Institute. Meanwhile, several national meteorological agencies, including those in China, Japan, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, announced that the summer of 2025 was the warmest ever recorded on their territory.
The highest anomalies above average were recorded in Asia during the same period, according to Copernicus. Outside of Europe, temperatures were the highest above average in Siberia, parts of Antarctica, China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and the Middle East.
The global ocean remained unusually warm during August 2025. Despite 2025 not being the warmest summer on record for the entire planet, with the two warmest summers still those of 2023 and 2024, the average summer temperature in France in 2025 was approximately 0.90 °C warmer than the reference period 1991–2020.
The Copernicus program regularly takes stock of monthly temperature changes for the entire planet. Over the last three months, between June and August, the Northern Hemisphere experienced the strongest warming compared to the pre-industrial era.
As the world continues to grapple with the impacts of climate change, the record-breaking temperatures observed in 2025 serve as a stark reminder of the need for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a warming planet.
