Drought Across Most Of NW Europe; May 2025 Was Globally The 2nd-Hottest May Ever, 1.4C Above 19th Century Baseline
It has been an exceptionally dry spring in north-western Europe and the second warmest May ever globally, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
Countries across Europe, including the UK, have been hit by drought conditions in recent months, with water shortages feared unless significant rain comes this summer, and crop failures beginning to be reported by farmers.
The new Copernicus data shows that May 2025 was the second-warmest May globally, with an average surface air temperature of 15.79C, 0.53C above the 1991-2020 average for May. The month was 1.4C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. This interrupts a period of 21 months out of 22 where the global average temperature was more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level.
Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said: “May 2025 breaks an unprecedentedly long sequence of months over 1.5C above pre-industrial. Whilst this may offer a brief respite for the planet, we do expect the 1.5C threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/11/drought-fears-in-europe-amid-reports-may-was-worlds-second-hottest-ever