Climate & Environment
August ties hottest month ever recorded, Copernicus says
The month also brought record extra-polar ocean heat and capped western Europe's hottest summer in the ERA5 record.
Executive summary
- The record: August 2026 averaged 16.96°C globally, making it the warmest August and tying July 2023 as the hottest month in the Copernicus ERA5 record.[1][2][3]
- The threshold: The monthly global average was 1.65°C above the estimated 1850–1900 baseline, the first month above 1.5°C since November 2025.[1][2][3]
- The oceans: Extra-polar sea-surface temperatures also tied the highest monthly level in the ERA5 record, while August 22 set a daily record.[1][2][3]
- The summer: June through August tied 2024 as the warmest global summer on record, and western Europe recorded its hottest summer.[1][2]
August 2026 was the warmest August ever measured and tied July 2023 as the hottest month across the Copernicus Climate Change Service's ERA5 record, the European climate agency reported Thursday. The global average surface-air temperature reached 16.96°C, a finding independently reported by the Associated Press and Reuters.[1][2][3]
Copernicus calculated that the month was 1.65°C above the estimated 1850–1900 preindustrial average, marking the first monthly reading above 1.5°C since November 2025. A single month above that level does not mean the Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal has been breached, which is assessed over a much longer period.[1][2][3]
The apparent 0.01°C edge over July 2023 falls within the uncertainty of the dataset, so Copernicus treats the two months as tied. Its ERA5 temperature record begins in 1940, while other global datasets use different methods and longer historical series.[1][2]
Ocean heat also reached record territory. The average sea-surface temperature across ice-free oceans between 60° south and 60° north was 21.07°C in August, the highest August reading and tied with March 2024 for the highest monthly level in ERA5. Copernicus said the daily average reached a record 21.11°C on August 22, while noting that some other datasets do not rank the monthly ocean value first.[1][2][3]
Copernicus attributed the exceptional warmth to long-term human-caused heating from fossil-fuel emissions alongside rapidly rising tropical Pacific temperatures during a strengthening El Niño. The June-to-August period tied 2024 as the warmest global summer in the record, while western Europe surpassed 2003 for its hottest summer after repeated heat waves, drought and unusually low river flows.[1][2][3]