1235. March 2025 Was the Second Warmest March on Record

According to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, March 2025 was the second warmest March on record globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 14.06°C, 0.65°C higher than the 1991-2020 average and 1.60°C higher than pre-industrial levels for March. March 2025 was 0.08°C lower than the record-breaking March 2024 and just 0.02°C higher than the third warmest March of 2016. For the 12 months from April 2024 to March 2025, temperatures were 0.71°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.59°C above pre-industrial levels.

The average temperature over land Europe in March 2025 was 6.03°C, 2.41°C above the 1991-2020 March average, making it the warmest March in Europe. Temperatures were primarily above average across Europe, with the largest extreme high temperatures recorded in Eastern Europe and Southwestern Russia, while below average temperatures occurred across the Iberian Peninsula. Outside Europe, temperatures were mostly above average over much of the Arctic, particularly the Canadian Archipelago and Baffin Bay. Above average temperatures were also recorded in the United States, Mexico, parts of Asia, and Australia. Temperatures were most below average in northern Canada, Hudson Bay, and eastern Russia, including the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The average sea surface temperature (SST) from 60°S to 60°N in March 2025 was 20.96°C, the second highest value on record for the month, 0.12°C lower than the record set in March 2024. SSTs remained abnormally high in many oceans and seas. Some oceans, such as the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern North Atlantic, saw larger record-breaking areas than last month.

Arctic sea ice recorded its lowest monthly extent in March in 47 years of satellite records, 6% lower than average. This marks the fourth consecutive month in which sea ice extent recorded its lowest on record for the same period. Antarctic sea ice had its fourth smallest monthly extent in March, 24% lower than average.

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program