Overview
- Copernicus reported Friday that August 2026 had a global surface-air monthly mean of 16.96 °C, a value that equals July 2023 within measurement uncertainty and is the highest August on record.
- The agency said August was 1.65 °C above the 1850–1900 preindustrial baseline, making it the first month since November 2025 to exceed 1.5 °C on a monthly basis though not a sustained breach of the Paris limit.
- Ocean surface temperatures between 60°S and 60°N reached 21.07 °C in August, tying the highest monthly ocean value on record, and the daily global highest sea-surface temperature outside polar regions hit 21.11 °C.
- Copernicus found that June–August 2026 was the warmest summer on record for Western Europe, a period marked by prolonged heatwaves, drought, wildfires and exceptionally low flows on rivers such as the Rhine, Danube, Seine and Rhône.
- January–August 2026 ranks as the second warmest year-to-date after 2024, and experts say the expected strengthening of El Niño will be the key factor determining whether 2026 approaches or matches 2024’s annual average with further impacts on ecosystems, water supplies and infrastructure.