2023 on track to be the hottest year on record, say scientists

Wildfires advance towards the eastern town of Palma de Gandia in Valencia, Spain, on 3 November. Photograph: Andreu Esteban/AP

The world is set to have been hotter in 2023 than in any other year on record, scientists have declared, before a landmark climate summit this month.

“We can say with near certainty that 2023 will be the warmest year on record, and is currently 1.43C above the pre-industrial average,” said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “The sense of urgency for ambitious climate action going into Cop28 has never been higher.”