The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that the world experiences its second-hottest May on record, driven by an unusually early and intense heatwave over Europe. The agency says temperatures rose rapidly from cooler-than-average conditions to one of the strongest heatwaves observed this early in the year in western Europe. Records were broken in countries including Britain, France, Ireland and Portugal after a “heat dome” of warm air moved in from northern Africa, pushing temperatures well above seasonal norms.
Copernicus notes that “feels-like” temperatures reached roughly 35°C to 40°C across large parts of Europe. The service adds that the quick transition likely increases impacts on people and on crops and ecosystems during the growing season, since there is little time to adjust to the higher temperatures.
Globally, the average surface air temperature reached 15.81°C, second only to May 2024. Sea surface temperatures were also the second highest on record, behind May 2024, as conditions shift toward a warming El Niño pattern. Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization say El Niño has about an 80% chance of developing between June and August, raising the risk of more extreme weather events.
