Europe Fastest-Warming Continent in 2025 Report

A joint report from the World Meteorological Organization and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has identified Europe as the fastest-warming continent on Earth, with 2025 marking a year of record heatwaves, wildfires, marine heat and ice loss across the region. Released on Wednesday, the European State of the Climate report detailed how nearly all of Europe, at least 95 percent of the continent, recorded above-average annual temperatures, exacerbating droughts, low river flows and ecosystem stress.

The report highlighted a record three-week heatwave in July that struck sub-Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland, where temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius inside the Arctic Circle, the longest and most severe such event on record. Southern Europe faced multiple intense heatwaves in June and August, affecting countries including Spain, Portugal, France and Greece, with temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius in Turkey for the first time. Wildfires burned more than 1 million hectares of land, the largest area on record and roughly the size of Cyprus, with severe outbreaks on the Iberian Peninsula and elevated emissions in nations such as Spain,...