Europe Records Second-Warmest March On Record, Copernicus Says

COLOGNE, April 10 (Bernama-dpa) -- Last month was Europe's second-warmest March on record, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, which also reported the second-highest global sea surface temperature for the month, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Globally, March ranked as the fourth-warmest since records began, with an average temperature of 13.94 degrees Celsius. That was 1.48 degrees above the estimated pre-industrial average for the month in 1850-1900 and 0.53 degrees above the 1991-2020 March average, the data showed.

The trend of extreme temperatures continued, Copernicus said. The warmest March on record was in 2024.

Europe saw particularly strong warming, with average temperatures of 5.88 degrees, or 2.27 degrees above the 1991–2020 baseline. While much of the continent was drier than average, heavy rainfall led to flooding in parts of the Mediterranean and Scandinavia.

The Arctic recorded a record low for March sea ice extent, at 5.7 per cent below average, the lowest ever observed for the month, according to Copernicus.

Global sea surface temperatures averaged 20.97 degrees, the second-highest level ever recorded for March.

Conditions varied sharply across regions, with a prolonged heatwave in the western United States, while Alaska, Canada and north-western Siberia experienced unusually cold weather.

Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said the figures collectively reflected a climate system under sustained and accelerating pressure.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service regularly publishes data on global surface temperatures, sea ice and precipitation, based on computer-generated analyses that integrate billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations worldwide.

--BERNAMA-dpa