Europe Fastest-Warming Continent: 0.56C Per Decade, 2025 Report Finds

Europe is warming at 0.56C per decade over the past 30 years, more than twice the global average of 0.27C, making it the fastest-warming continent, according to the European State of the Climate Report for 2025, jointly published by ECMWF and the World Meteorological Organisation. Only the Arctic warms faster at 0.75C per decade.

In 2025, at least 95% of Europe experienced above-average temperatures, with northern countries recording their warmest or second-warmest year. A three-week heatwave saw temperatures exceed 30C in sub-Arctic Fennoscandia, and Europe had its second most severe heatwave on record. This rapid warming is attributed to atmospheric circulation shifts, increased solar radiation, cleaner air, shrinking snow cover, and Europe's geography near the Arctic.

Glaciers across Europe lost mass, with Iceland severely affected. Snow cover was 31% below average in March, and the Greenland Ice Sheet lost 139 billion tonnes of ice. European annual sea surface temperatures reached record highs, and 86% of European seas experienced strong marine heatwaves. The Mediterranean's Posidonia Oceanica seagrass declined by 34% over 50 years.

2025 was one of the three driest years for soil moisture since 1992, with 35% of Europe in extreme agricultural drought in May. 70% of European rivers had below-average annual flows. Wildfires burned over one million hectares, a record, with severe outbreaks in the Iberian Peninsula and record emissions in several countries. Positively, renewables supplied 46.4% of Europe’s electricity in 2025, with solar reaching a record 12.5% share, while fossil fuels continued to decline.