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Europe recorded its second-warmest June
June 2026 was the second-warmest June on record globally, with an average surface air temperature of 16.54°C, 0.56°C above the 1991–2020 average. The global average temperature was 1.39°C above the estimated 1850–1900 pre-industrial baseline.
Europe recorded its second-warmest June, while western Europe experienced its warmest June on record, leading to an intense late‑month heatwave that broke numerous national and local temperature records.
The global-average sea surface temperature (SST) over the extra-polar ocean (60°S–60°N) reached 20.86°C, the highest value on record for June, reflecting exceptionally warm conditions in the tropical Pacific linked to developing El Niño conditions.
Read more here.
Sea Ice Dynamics
In the Arctic, the average sea ice extent in June 2026 was 10.9 million km2, about 5% below the 1991–2020 average, making it the sixth-lowest June extent in the satellite record.
In the Antarctic, June sea ice extent was 12.7 million km2, around 8% below the 1991–2020 average and also the sixth-lowest on record, with much-below-average cover in the Bellingshausen Sea and along much of the East Antarctic ice edge.
Read more here.
Text and photo by Copernicus
