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Europe is the fastest warming continent with regions from the Arctic to the Mediterranean suffering from heat waves, wildfires, shrinking glaciers, declining snow cover and record hot seas in 2025, according to the latest European State of the Climate (ESOTC) report published by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on April 29, 2026.
The report found that in 2025 at least 95 per cent of Europe experienced higher than normal annual temperatures and 90 per cent of the continent suffered from “fewer days than average with at least ‘strong’ cold stress. Minimum temperatures remained above average for most of the year.” Europe has warmed by 0.56°C per decade in the last 30 years, as per the report. The Arctic region has warmed by 0.75°C per decade in the same period.
The region also experienced unprecedented heat waves in 2025. The sub-Arctic region of Fennoscandia spread across multiple countries experienced heatwaves for three weeks in July, the longest for the region on record. “In 2025, sub‑Arctic Norway, Sweden and Finland recorded their worst heatwave on record with 21 straight days and temperatures exceeding 30°C within the Arctic Circle itself,” said Florian Pappenberger, director general of the ECMWF in a press statement. Frosta in Norway reached a peak of 34.9°C.
“Much of Europe also experienced more days than average with at least ‘strong’ heat stress, with southern and eastern Spain recording up to 50 more days than average with ‘feels-like’ temperatures above 32ºC,” according to a press release accompanying the report. The intense warming led to the ignition and proliferation of wildfires throughout the continent.
“In total, a record area of around 1,034,000 hectares burnt across Europe — an area larger than Cyprus — with wildfire emissions reaching their highest levels on record,” according to the press release. More than half of the emissions came from Spain which was impacted the most along with Cyprus, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany also recording their highest wildfires emissions on record.
The higher-than-average temperatures and heatwaves along with below normal precipitation resulted in the loss of snow and ice cover in Europe. In March 2025, the snow extent within the continent was the third lowest since records began in 1983. Snow covered 1.32 million square kilometres less area than average or 31 percent, equivalent of the combined area of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Glaciers across Europe also recorded net mass loss in 2025 with Iceland losing its third second highest glacier mass on record. The Greenland Ice Sheet lost 139 gigatonnes of ice mass in 2025, which is around 1.5 times the ice mass stored in all the glaciers in the European Alps.
Apart from glaciers and snow, the other major fresh water source also suffered from warming temperatures in Europe. Across the continent around 70 per cent of the rivers experienced below normal flows with soil moisture among the three lowest years since 1992. “In May, around half of Europe (53%) was affected by drought conditions. These patterns reflect a combination of factors including atmospheric circulation and rainfall variability, alongside longer-term climate trends,” according to the press release.
The seas around Europe were also record warm in 2025, making it the fourth consecutive year with record warmth. Marine heatwaves affected 86 per cent of the area covered by seas around Europe in the year with 36 per cent of the region suffering severe or extreme sea surface temperatures (SSTs), another record. Such marine heatwaves impact sensitive ecosystems such as seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean Sea.
“Numerous extreme events in 2025 — including drought, wildfires, and land and marine heatwaves — impacted biodiversity in marine and terrestrial ecosystems,” said the press release. “Additionally, nature is under increased stress due to shrinking and shifting habitats, disruption of seasonal patterns due to warmer temperatures, and changes in precipitation,” it added.
“The ESOTC 2025 paints a stark picture: the pace of climate change demands more urgent action,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF in the press release. “In confronting the impact on biodiversity loss, we need to match the speed of adaptation happening in the clean energy transition and at the same time, ensure robust science continues to underpin our policies and decisions,” she added.