BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - A joint report by the UN World Meteorological Organization and Copernicus Climate Change Service spotlights key changes across Europe, which is the world's fastest warming continent with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average.
Key results from the study show that at least 95 per cent of Europe experienced above-average annual temperatures in 2025.
There was also a record three-week heatwave affecting sub-Arctic peninsulas in Scandinavia, with temperatures near to and within the Arctic Circle exceeding 30°C.
Annual sea surface temperature for Europe was also the highest on record, with 86 per cent of the region experiencing strong marine heatwaves - or worse.
At the same time, wildfires burnt more than one million hectares, the largest area on record, while river flows were below average for 11 months of the year across Europe.
The findings were released Wednesday in the European State of the Climate (ESOTC) 2025 report, bringing together the work of around 100 scientific contributors and provides a comprehensive overview of key changes in climate indicators for the world's fastest warming continent.
Rapid warming in Europe is reducing snow and ice cover, while dangerously high air temperatures, drought, heatwaves and record ocean temperatures are affecting regions from the Arctic to the Mediterranean.
Europe, along with many other regions of the globe, is exposed to increasing impacts - from record heatwaves on land and at sea, to devastating wildfires, and continuing biodiversity loss - with consequences for societies and ecosystems across the continent.
Storms and flooding affected thousands across Europe, though extreme rainfall and flooding were less widespread than in recent years, according to the report.
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