Copernicus: August 2026, the warmest month ever recorded globally

August 2026 was the warmest month ever recorded globally, with an average surface air temperature of 16.96 degrees Celsius, according to the latest report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), managed by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). During the same period, the surface temperature of the oceans in the extrapolar zone reached a new record, while several European regions, including Romania, faced severe drought.

The average global surface air temperature was 0.85 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average. August 2026 thus surpassed the joint record set in August 2023 and August 2024. The month was also the warmest calendar month ever recorded, tied with July 2023. The Copernicus report shows that the temperature in August was 1.65 degrees Celsius above the estimated average for the pre-industrial period 1850-1900. It is the first month since November 2025 in which the global average temperature exceeded the pre-industrial reference level by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The period June-August 2026 was, in turn, the warmest summer on record globally, tied with the summer of 2024.

• Records also in ocean temperatures

The warming was not limited to land. The average sea surface temperature in the extrapolar oceans, between 60 degrees South and 60 degrees North, reached 21.07 degrees Celsius in August, the highest ever recorded for the month. The previous record for August was 20.98 degrees Celsius, set in 2023. The average sea surface temperature in this area was also on par with the highest ever recorded for all calendar months, equaling the record set in March 2024. A record daily value of 21.11 degrees Celsius was also recorded for the global sea surface temperature in the extrapolar area.

• El Niño intensifies in the Pacific

Sea surface temperatures remained exceptionally warm across much of the tropical Pacific, where El Niño conditions continue to intensify. According to the Copernicus report, the phenomenon could become one of the strongest El Niño events ever recorded. The effects are already visible on land. Experts say these conditions are fuelling the intensification of seasonal fires in Indonesia, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). In Europe, sea surface temperatures reached record highs for August along the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, combined with widespread strong to severe sea heatwave conditions.

• Western Europe records warmest summer on record

August marked the end of the warmest summer ever recorded in Western Europe, surpassing the previous record set in 2003. Across the continent, the average temperature in August was 20.26 degrees Celsius, 1.10 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average. August 2026 was the fourth warmest August on record in Europe. Overall, the summer of 2026 was the third warmest on record in Europe, after 2024 and 2022. Western Europe was hit by a succession of exceptionally early, persistent and intense heat waves that began in May. "The region also experienced further heat waves in August, continuing an exceptional period of extreme heat that began in May,” the Copernicus report said.

• Romania among countries affected by severe drought

In parallel with the high temperatures, much of Western and Central Europe, southern Scandinavia and southeastern Europe experienced much drier than average conditions during the summer. The precipitation deficit, which was most pronounced in western regions in June, gradually shifted eastwards throughout the season. The Copernicus report explicitly mentions severe drought conditions in France, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Romania and Serbia.

"A large part of the region, as well as large areas of Central and Eastern Europe, also faced a widespread drought in August, which in some cases has persisted since May,” the report says. The drought has also had consequences for water resources. The flows of several European rivers have dropped to exceptionally low levels. The Rhine, Danube, Southern Bug and Dnieper are among the rivers and streams affected. Over the summer, much of continental Europe recorded river flows below the seasonal average. Large parts of the Seine, Rhône, Loire and Glomme recorded their lowest seasonal flows since the start of the data series in 1992. Extremely low flow conditions were recorded throughout the Danube, Vistula and Rhine rivers.

• Drought and wildfires

Dry conditions contributed to the intensification of wildfires, a phenomenon that had a significant impact on several European regions during the summer. Copernicus indicates exceptional drought and wildfires, as well as their associated emissions, among the main effects of the weather conditions this summer. However, not all European regions were affected by the precipitation deficit. The western Iberian Peninsula, southern Greece, southern Turkey and Cyprus, as well as northeastern Europe, recorded above-average precipitation amounts.

• Sea ice at reduced levels

The evolution of sea ice indicates important changes. In August, the extent of Arctic sea ice was ranked 12th among the lowest values recorded for this month. Ice cover was particularly low north of Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya in the Russian Arctic. At the end of August, as the daily extent of Arctic sea ice approached its annual minimum, expected for September, it was the 13th lowest on record for that time of year. In Antarctica, sea ice extent was the fourth lowest on record for August. The most pronounced negative anomalies were observed in the Amundsen Sea and the Indian Ocean sector. The Copernicus data for August 2026 thus indicate a combination of global and ocean temperature records, extreme heat in Europe, drought and very low river flows, in a climate context characterised by rapid and extreme developments.