UK, Japan, and South Korea Experience Hottest Summers in History
PARIS: August 2025 was the third-hottest August ever recorded globally, with extreme heatwaves and wildfires underlining the urgent need to tackle climate change, according to Europe’s climate monitoring agency.
Southwest Europe faced its third major heatwave of the summer, with fires spreading across Spain and Portugal. Meanwhile, much of Asia saw above-average temperatures, bringing the world close to new global temperature records.
Oceans, which help regulate the planet’s climate by absorbing excess heat, also reached near-record levels in August. Scientists link these high ocean temperatures to more frequent and intense weather events.
“With the world’s oceans remaining unusually warm, these events highlight not only the urgent need to cut emissions but also the importance of preparing for more extreme climate events,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Global temperatures continue to rise due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels on a large scale since the industrial revolution.
Copernicus monitors climate using billions of satellite and weather observations on land and sea, with data going back to 1940.
The global average temperature in August was 1.29 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, slightly cooler than the record set in 2023 and equal to 2024.
Although these increases may seem small, scientists warn they are already destabilizing the climate, making storms, floods, and other disasters stronger and more frequent.
In its monthly bulletin, Copernicus noted that western Europe saw the largest temperature increases, especially in southwest France and the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain endured a 16-day heatwave that claimed over 1,100 lives, according to the Carlos III Health Institute. Fires in Spain and Portugal forced thousands to evacuate. Scientists said human-driven climate change made the hot, dry, and windy conditions fueling the fires 40 times more likely.
Outside Europe, temperatures were above average in Siberia, parts of Antarctica, China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and the Middle East.
Record-high ocean temperatures were recorded in the North Atlantic near France and the United Kingdom in August, while the Mediterranean showed less extreme warming compared to 2024.
The UK, Japan, and South Korea experienced their hottest summers since official record-keeping began, weather agencies in each country reported earlier this month.
