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The Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that the average sea surface temperature outside polar regions reached 20.96 degrees Celsius last month beating the prior July record of 20.89 degrees Celsius set in 2023. Last month ranked as the joint second-warmest July globally with readings 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average the EU monitoring service said. Sea surface temperatures hit record highs along Europe’s Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean contributing to strong marine heatwaves across the region according to Copernicus data.
Developing El Niño conditions in the tropical Pacific helped fuel the ocean warmth and are forecast to strengthen in coming months the Copernicus Climate Change Service stated. El Niño is a natural Pacific weather pattern that when combined with human-driven global warming can drive temperature spikes and more extreme weather events. Oceans serve as a key climate regulator absorbing most excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions while producing half of Earth’s oxygen the service noted in its assessment.
A study led by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that upper 2000-metre ocean heat content increased by 23 zettajoules in 2025 relative to the previous year setting yet another record. Japan Meteorological Agency figures show a linear trend of 6.39 times 10 to the 22 joules per decade in global ocean heat content from 1955 to 2025. United Nations assessments indicate that thermal expansion from warmer seawater accounts for roughly one third of observed sea level rise to date threatening low-lying coasts and island nations.
Warmer oceans have driven longer and more intense marine heatwaves that bleach coral reefs on a mass scale and damage kelp forests as well as commercial fisheries a UN Environment Programme review found. Higher sea surface temperatures also evaporate additional moisture into the atmosphere intensifying tropical storms with heavier rainfall the world body stated. More than half of the world’s marine species may face extinction risks by 2100 if warming continues according to UNESCO estimates cited in UN reports.
Western Europe experienced its hottest June and July on record with average temperatures 2.79 degrees Celsius above the long-term norm Copernicus data showed. Samantha Burgess strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said July 2026 marked the third consecutive month of exceptional heat in the region. Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over western Europe while dry soils limited natural cooling and this is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another Burgess added.
The hot dry conditions created favourable environments for wildfires with exceptional burned areas and emissions generated across southern Europe according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Laurence Rouil director of the service stated that climate change is increasingly bringing the kinds of hot and dry conditions that favour large high-intensity wildfires in southern Europe while extending the fire season northwards. River levels on the Seine Rhine and Danube dropped to exceptionally low points exacerbating pressures on water supplies irrigation and energy production the monitoring service reported.
England and Wales recorded their driest July since measurements began 190 years ago Met Office data showed with large parts of England and all of Wales already declared in drought. The Environment Agency has warned that additional areas could face official drought declarations if the dry pattern persists. Mike Kendon a Met Office climate information scientist said we are right now living in a time of historic and unprecedented change and evidence shows the climate of the 20th century has now gone.
