August was world’s joint hottest month on record

• August was the joint-hottest month ever recorded, tied with July 2023, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Service, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.

• El Nino was one of the drivers of the climate in August. It is now firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, with big impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns well into 2027, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Key points of the latest report:

• Global sea surface temperature reached an all-time observed high in August, with El Nino conditions fuelling record temperatures across vast areas of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. 

• The Northern Hemisphere experienced its warmest summer (June 1 to August 31), while the Southern Hemisphere had a near-record warm winter.

• Meanwhile, the Arctic and Antarctic each had below-average sea ice coverage in August.

• Global tropical cyclone activity was above average in August, producing 19 tropical storms. Of those, five reached hurricane or typhoon intensity, with four attaining major status.

• In terms of heat, the global average surface air temperature in August was 1.65°C higher than the estimated pre-industrial baseline, the latest data revealed.

• At the same time, the global surface temperature was 1.32°C above the 20th-century average.

• Western Europe saw heatwaves in August, continuing an exceptional run of extreme heat that began in May, and severe drought conditions were reported in France, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and the United Kingdom.

• Large parts of central and eastern Europe also saw widespread dryness in August, in some cases persisting since May.

• Water flow levels were exceptionally low in major European rivers, including the Rhine, Danube, Southern Bug and Dnieper.