2025 was the third warmest year on record globally, with average temperatures just below those of 2023 and 2024, scientists at the EU Earth observation programme Copernicus said on Wednesday.

The latest data point at a global warming trend given the past 11 years have been the 11 warmest recorded. While in 2024 anomalies were reported around the tropics, in 2025 the annual average temperatures reached their highest value in the Antarctic and Arctic regions, and hit record levels in other parts of the world, including north-western Europe.

“In 2025, half of the global land area experienced more days than average with at least strong heat stress – defined as feels-like temperature of 32° or above,” the researchers say in their report. High temperatures also contributed to abnormal wildfires, which occurred in parts of Europe and North America.

European scientists attribute the exceptional warming in the last three years to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the reduced uptake of carbon dioxide by natural sinks, such as forests, soils and oceans. Other factors were “changes in the amounts of aerosols and low cloud, and variations in atmospheric circulation.”

Paris agreement

The 2023-2025 period marked the first time the planet was 1.5° warmer on average than pre-industrial times for three consecutive years.

Continuing at the current rate, the long-term 1.5° limit set in the Paris climate agreement, “could be reached by the end of this decade, over a decade earlier than predicted,” Copernicus says. “Beyond 1.5°, “there is heightened risk of catastrophic impacts from extreme weather and consequences for the environment and food security.”

The report comes as the Netherlands and northern Europe were hit by a spell of cold weather, but scientists say the number of snow days in the country has been decreasing over the years.

“We will still have freezing temperatures and snow, but the probability that these happen is going down,” Frank Selten, climate research scientist at weather bureau KNMI told Dutch News. “One way to explain the difference between weather and climate is the weather is like throwing the dice, and the climate determines the probabilities on the dice side.”

“As the climate is warming”, he said, “we see in the Netherlands an increasing probability of extremely hot days, extreme summer showers, and increasing droughts”.

Rising sea levels

“We also see an acceleration of sea level rise due to increasing ice melt and this of course is an important impact for the Netherlands as half of the country is below sea level,” he said. “The country is well aware of the risks and is adapting continuously to reduce its vulnerability.”

The Dutch government has set up a special commission to strengthen coastal defences and river dykes, and store water to avoid floods in populated areas.

Nevertheless, Selten said, “perhaps in 100 or 200 years we won’t be able to keep up the defences and will have to give up land or think of alternatives such as living in floating cities.”