13.23° on average

January 2025 was the warmest ever recorded

January was the warmest on record, according to a climate report. The global temperature was 13.23 degrees, 1.75 degrees above the pre-industrial level for the month of January.

"January 2025 is another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed over the past two years - despite the development of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and their temporary cooling effect on global temperatures," said Samantha Burgess from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

• In January 2025, it was wetter than average in most regions of Western Europe as well as in parts of Italy, Scandinavia and the Baltic states. Heavy rainfall led to flooding in some regions. Across mainland Europe, January reached the second-highest average temperature after January 2020.

• According to the data, the average sea surface temperature in January was 20.78 degrees. This is the second-highest value ever measured after January 2024. 

• The period of the last twelve months (February 2024 to January 2025) was on average 1.61 degrees above the estimated global average from 1850 to 1900. January 2025 was also the 18th month in a 19-month period in which the temperature was 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial level. In the report, this corresponds to the period from 1850 to 1900. 

However, the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement is not yet considered to have been missed, as this is based on a longer period of time.