STORY: :: File
If Europeans felt it was hotter than usual last year, they would be right.
According to EU scientists and the World Meteorological Organization on Wednesday, nearly all of Europe - at least 95% of it - experienced above-average heat in 2025.
That's as climate change worsens, and in a year that broke records for wildfires, sea temperatures and heatwaves.
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The findings came in the annual report from the WMO and the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
They show how climate change is having increasingly severe consequences in what is the world's fastest-warming continent.
Wildfires burnt more than two and a half million acres of land in 2025.
That's an area larger than Cyprus and is the biggest annual total on record.
More than half of Europe was hit by drought conditions last May.
And, as the warming climate imposes harsher conditions on farmers, the year overall was one of the three driest for soil moisture since 1992.
Europe's overall sea surface temperature also hit an annual record high.
Eighty-six percent of the region suffered strong marine heatwaves.
The report also included particular concern about changes in Europe's coldest regions such as sub-Arctic Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
They're areas where snow and ice cover is crucial to slowing climate change by reflecting sunlight back into space, and where ice loss adds to sea level rise.
Last July saw their strongest heatwaves on record.
The findings come at a time when some governments are seeking to weaken emissions-cutting policies over economic concerns.
The EU has promised to stick to its green goals.
However, it weakened some climate rules for cars and companies last year after pressure from industry to help struggling firms.
Samantha Burgess, strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said the report showed that "climate change is not a future threat, it is our present reality."
"The pace of climate change" she said, "demands more urgent action."
