August 2026 Broke a Global Temperature Record

The European Union's (EU) Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) published global temperature data for the period August 2026.

According to the data, the global average surface air temperature in August was recorded as 16.96 degrees. This value was 0.85 degrees above the August average in the 1991-2020 period.

The temperature measured in August 2026 exceeded July 2023, which was measured at 16.95 degrees, making it the hottest month on record.

Last month, the global temperature was 1.65 degrees above the average of the pre-industrial period covering the years 1850-1900. Thus, in August, the monthly temperature increase exceeded the 1.5 degree threshold for the first time since November 2025.

The summer season, covering the June-August period, was 0.69 degrees above the 1991-2020 average on a global scale, making it the hottest summer on record with 2024.

The average temperature in August across Europe was measured as 20.26 degrees. While this value was 1.10 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, August 2026 was the fourth hottest August recorded across the continent.

The average summer temperature in Europe was measured 1.17 degrees above normal. Thus, the summer of 2026 was determined to be the third hottest summer on record on the continent, after 2024 and 2022.

Western Europe experienced the hottest summer on record, surpassing the 2003 record.

SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES ALSO BROKE A RECORD

The average sea surface temperature of the oceans outside the polar regions also increased to 21.07 degrees in August, reaching the highest level measured for this month.

Rapidly strengthening El Niño conditions in the Pacific were effective in high temperatures.

Samantha Burgess, Climate Strategy Leader of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said in her statement on the subject, "August 2026 was an extraordinary month in global climate records. It went down in history as both the hottest August and the hottest month ever recorded. Global temperatures rose 1.65 degrees above pre-Industrial Revolution levels." made his assessment.