World sees fifth hottest February on record: EU Monitor
February's global temperature reached 1.49°C above pre-industrial levels, triggering severe flooding and record rainfall across Western Europe, according to Copernicus data.
- Last month, Earth recorded its fifth-warmest February at 1.49C above pre-industrial levels, placing global temperatures extremely close to the 2015 Paris Agreement's 1.5C limit.
- Attribution studies by the World Weather Attribution network found human-driven warming and unusually high sea surface temperatures amplified torrential downpours, based on Copernicus' ERA5 dataset.
- Western Europe experienced severe flooding across France, Spain and Portugal, while named storms Leonardo, Pedro and Nils brought uncommon strength and the RAC reported 6,290 pothole breakdowns last month.
- The UN warned the chance of staying below 1.5C is 'virtually zero,' and Samantha Burgess said 'The extreme events of February 2026 highlight the growing impacts of climate change and the pressing need for global action.'
- Copernicus Climate Change Service monthly report noted Arctic sea ice extent was 5% below average for February at its third-lowest level, while Antarctic sea ice stayed close to February average.
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32 Articles
February 2026 was Earth's fifth-warmest February on record » Yale Climate Connections
Despite the lack of a planet-warming El Niño event, global ocean temperatures were the second-warmest on record in February, behind only the El Niño year of 2024. The post February 2026 was Earth’s fifth-warmest February on record appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
The most recent booklet of the European system Copernicus indicates that the last month of February recorded a much higher than average and generalised precipitation in several European countries, and confirms that there is almost half a century in Portugal that did not so. Globally, it was the fifth hottest in terms of average temperature.
The temperatures above the average were recorded in different parts of the planet
der Standard AT
der Standard DEIn Europe the month was unusually cold, but worldwide it was the fifth warmest of February since the beginning of the records. In Western Europe and North Africa there were intense storms and rains.
In Western Europe and North Africa, severe floods with deaths occurred in February. Globally, temperatures were almost 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Nine storms brought torrential rain and strong winds to Spain, Portugal and Morocco on February 16 and 17, leaving more than 50 dead, the European Copernicus Observatory reported.
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