BRUSSELS, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Europe suffered record or near-record climate extremes in 2025, with heatwaves, wildfires, marine heat and ice loss intensifying across the continent, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a report on Wednesday.
The European State of the Climate Report 2025 said at least 95 percent of Europe recorded annual temperatures above average, as prolonged heat spread from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle.
Europe experienced its second-most severe heatwave on record, while sub-Arctic Fennoscandia endured a 21-day heatwave in July that was the longest and most severe ever recorded for the region, the report said.
Temperatures close to and within the Arctic Circle reached or exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, it added.
The findings are consistent with broader Copernicus data that 2025 was the third-warmest year on record globally. For Europe, rankings varied by dataset and geographic domain, with 2025 assessed as the warmest year on record for the WMO's Regional Association VI domain, and the second- or third-warmest for the C3S European domain.
Hot and dry conditions also fuelled Europe's worst wildfire year on record. The report's wildfire data showed that about 1.034 million hectares of land, or 10,346 square km, were burned in 2025, an area larger than Cyprus. Wildfire emissions in Europe also reached their highest level on record, with Spain accounting for around half of the continent's total fire emissions.
European seas also continued to warm. The report said annual sea surface temperatures in European waters reached their highest level on record for the fourth consecutive year.
About 86 percent of European seas, excluding ice-covered areas, experienced at least "strong" marine heatwave conditions, while 36 percent experienced "severe" or "extreme" conditions, both record highs. The Mediterranean's annual average sea surface temperature was the second-highest on record, behind 2024, the report said.
Snow and ice cover also declined sharply as high temperatures and low precipitation hit much of the region. In March, Europe's snow-covered area was about 1.32 million square km below average, a drop of 31 percent and the third-lowest level since records began in 1983. The lost snow area was roughly equal to the combined size of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
European glacier regions overall saw a net mass loss, with limited exceptions in northern Scandinavia. Iceland recorded its second-largest glacier mass loss since 1976, while Greenland's ice sheet lost 139 gigatonnes of ice, about 1.5 times the total ice stored in all Alpine glaciers.
The report said droughts, wildfires and heatwaves on land and at sea were placing growing pressure on Europe's marine and terrestrial ecosystems, with biodiversity increasingly exposed to extreme climate conditions. ■