2025 ‘virtually certain’ to be second- or third-hottest year on record, EU data shows

Last month was the third-warmest November and was marked by a series of dangerous weather events including cyclones and catastrophic floods across south and south-east Asia. Photograph: Krishan Kariyawasam/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

This year is “virtually certain” to end as the second- or third-hottest year on record, EU scientists have found, as climate breakdown continues to push the planet away from the stable conditions in which humanity evolved.

Global temperatures from January to November were on average 1.48C higher than preindustrial levels, according to the Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation programme. It found the anomalies were so far identical to those recorded in 2023, which is the second-hottest year on record after 2024.