ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)

October 2026 was the warmest October on record globally, with a global-average surface air temperature of 15.35°C, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

October 2026 was also the third consecutive month to exceed 1.5°C.

In a statement, C3S said that 2026 is virtually certain to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, becoming the second calendar year to do so after 2024. The four-year average global temperature over 2023–2026 is also expected to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The data showed that September 2026 was the second-warmest September globally, with a global-average surface air temperature of 16.27°C, 0.82°C above the 1991–2020 average.

In Europe, summer 2026 was the third-warmest on record, while western Europe experienced its warmest summer on record, marked by severe dry conditions, exceptionally low river flows, and unusually warm seas.

Sea surface temperatures remained exceptionally high in October. The average sea surface temperature outside the polar regions reached 20.95°C, the highest on record for October, surpassing the previous October record set in 2023. 

In the tropical Pacific, where El Niño conditions continued to intensify, the monthly sea surface temperature anomaly in the Niño 3.4 region reached an all-time high of 3.21°C, exceeding the peaks recorded during previous very strong El Niño events.