Bonn, 08/05/2025

Global Temperatures

  • April 2025 was the second-warmest April globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 14.96°C, 0.60°C above the 1991-2020 average for April.
  • April 2025 was 0.07°C cooler than the record April of 2024, and 0.07°C warmer than the third warmest of 2016.
  • April 2025 was 1.51°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level and was the 21st month* in the last 22 months for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.
  • The 12-month period of May 2024 – April 2025 was 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.58°C above the pre-industrial level.
  • Datasets other than ERA5 may not confirm the 21 months above 1.5°C highlighted here, due to the relatively small margins above 1.5°C of ERA5 global temperatures observed for several months and differences among the various datasets.

Europe and other regions

  • The average temperature over European land for April 2025 was 9.38°C, 1.01°C above the 1991-2020 average for April, making it the sixth-warmest April for Europe.
  • Temperatures were predominantly above average across Europe, with the largest warm anomalies recorded over eastern Europe, western Russia, Kazakhstan, and Norway, while colder-than-average temperatures occurred across Türkiye, eastern parts of Bulgaria and Romania, the Crimean Peninsula, and northern Fennoscandia.
  • Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average over the Russian Far East and in a large part of west-central Asia. They were also above average over most of North America, part of Australia, and across the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica.
  • Temperatures were most below average over southern South America, in eastern Canada in the Great Lakes region and over the Hudson Bay, across northeastern Greenland and Svalbard and over northern Australia and east Antarctica.

Sea surface temperature

  • The average sea surface temperature (SST) for April 2025 over 60°S–60°N was 20.89°C, the second-highest value on record for the month, 0.15°C below the April 2024 record.

  • SSTs remained unusually high in many ocean basins and seas. Among them, large areas in the northeast North Atlantic continued to show record-high SSTs for the month. Most of the Mediterranean Sea was much warmer than average, but not as record-breaking as in March.

  • Arctic sea ice extent was 3% below average, the sixth lowest monthly extent for April in the 47-year satellite record, following four months with record low monthly values for the time of year.

  • Regionally, below-average sea ice concentrations were most pronounced in the Barents Sea and Sea of Okhotsk while above-average concentrations prevailed in the Greenland Sea.

  • Antarctic sea ice extent was 10% below average, making it the 10th lowest on record for the month.

  • Sea ice concentration anomalies around Antarctica were mixed.

  • In April 2025, much of central Europe, Great Britain, southern Fennoscandia and part of eastern Europe experienced drier-than-average conditions.

  • Conversely, it was predominantly wetter than average in most of southern Europe, northern Norway, southern Finland and parts of western Russia. The Alpine region saw heavy precipitation leading to floods, landslides and avalanches.

  • In April 2025, it was drier than average in much of western North America, across central and easternmost Asia, as well as most of southern Australia, Madagascar and parts of South America.

  • Wetter-than-average conditions were seen in parts of Canada and Alaska, mid-west USA, in parts of easternmost and central Russia, southern Africa, northern Australia and central South America. In many of these regions heavy precipitation led to floods and associated damage.

  • End -

More information about climate variables in April and climate updates of previous months as well as high-resolution graphics can be downloadedhere.

Other useful links:Answers to frequently asked questions regarding temperature monitoring can be foundhere.

Follow near-real-time data for the globe on Climate Pulsehere.

More on trends and projections on Climate Atlashere.

Access key datasets easily with the new tool ERA Explorer Apphere.

Temperature and hydrological maps and data are from ECMWF Copernicus Climate Change Service’s ERA5 and ERA5-Land (surface soil moisture) datasets. The findings about global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) presented here are based on SST data from ERA5 averaged over the 60°S–60°N domain. Note that ERA5 SSTs are estimates of the ocean temperature at about 10m depth (known as foundation temperature). The results may differ from other SST products providing temperature estimates at different depths, such as 20cm depth for NOAA’s OISST. Sea ice maps and data are from a combination of information from ERA5, as well as from the EUMETSAT OSI SAF Sea Ice Index v2.2. Regional area averages quoted here are the following longitude/latitude bounds: Globe, 180W-180E, 90S-90N, over land and ocean surfaces. Europe, 25W-40E, 34N-72N, over land surfaces only.

More information about the data can be foundhere.

Information on national records and impacts is based on national and regional reports. For details see the respective temperature and hydrologicalC3S climate bulletinfor the month.

C3S has followed the recommendation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to use the most recent 30-year period for calculating climatological averages and changed to the reference period of 1991-2020 for its C3S Climate Bulletins covering January 2021 onward. Figures and graphics for both the new and previous period (1981-2010) are provided for transparency.

More information on the reference period used can be foundhere.

More information on Copernicus:www.copernicus.eu

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SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE FOR APRIL 2025

HYDROLOGICAL VARIABLES FOR APRIL 2025

SEA ICE COVER FOR APRIL 2025