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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta\u00a0<\/strong>–\u00a0Virtually\u00a0no part of Europe was left untouched by\u00a0<\/span>extreme weather<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and hotter temperatures in 2025.\u00a0The continent endured\u00a0unprecedented heatwaves, experienced its largest\u00a0wildfire\u00a0and\u00a0recorded its hottest-ever sea surface temperatures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Those are the\u00a0key findings of the European State of the Climate 2025\u00a0<\/span>report,\u00a0published annually by the EU’s\u00a0<\/span>Copernicus Climate Change Service\u00a0<\/span>and the World Meteorological Organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The pace of climate change demands more urgent action,” said Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at\u00a0the European Center\u00a0for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. “With rising temperatures, and widespread wildfires and drought, the evidence is unequivocal; climate change is not a future threat, it is our present reality.”<\/p>\n At least 95% of Europe saw above-average annual temperatures, with the\u00a0United Kingdom,\u00a0Norway\u00a0and Iceland each measuring their warmest year ever.\u00a0The continent was hit by\u00a0several heatwaves, one of which lasted\u00a0for\u00a025 days\u00a0and affected multiple\u00a0countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Northern Europe was also\u00a0impacted, with the\u00a0sub-Arctic region across Norway, Sweden and Finland sweltering during\u00a021 days of extreme temperatures. Ordinarily, the region would expect no more than two days of\u00a0heat stress.\u00a0Spain, meanwhile,\u00a0<\/span>endured its most intense heatwave<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>since at least 1975.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the emissions\u00a0<\/span>from burning coal, gas and oil\u00a0drive\u00a0changes\u00a0in Earth’s climate, the report found that five of the continent’s 10\u00a0warmest years have occurred since 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n And the trend is not restricted to land. Sea surface temperatures across the European region reached their highest annual average on record for the fourth year in a row.\u00a0This wreaks havoc on\u00a0<\/span>marine biodiversity, causing mass mortality events and throwing food webs out of balance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Very hot\u00a0conditions also come with a real human cost.\u00a0Heat-related deaths in Europe reached\u00a0nearly 63,000\u00a0in 2024 according to estimates from the\u00a0<\/span>Lancet Countdown,\u00a0a separate annual report that tracks the health impacts of climate change.\u00a0Researchers also found that\u00a0mortality connected to high temperatures has increased in almost 100% of regions\u00a0monitored\u00a0since 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, with far-reaching repercussions on socioeconomic wellbeing\u00a0and on\u00a0ecosystems and\u00a0<\/span>biodiversity,” said Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World\u00a0Meteorological\u00a0Organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May, more than half of the continent experienced varying degrees of\u00a0<\/span>drought<\/a>.\u00a0The year also saw the driest soil moisture conditions on record,\u00a0creating conditions that can lead to lower crop yields and increase\u00a0<\/span>wildfire risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n Overall, 2025 was\u00a0catastrophic year for wildfires<\/a>\u00a0in Europe, with more than 1 million hectares of land\u00a0burned.\u00a0Greece\u00a0witnessed\u00a0one of its most severe wildfire outbreaks in recent years when 50 fires began in 24 hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n More than two-thirds of European rivers ran below their average annual flows, driven by drought.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the same time, the sunny conditions were also\u00a0a boon to\u00a0<\/span>solar energy, which is essential to transitioning away from planet-heating fossil fuels.\u00a0Every single EU country experienced growth in its solar grid\u00a0in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rising temperatures trigger a series of cascading effects, including melting once frozen areas. In March,\u00a0Europe lost snow cover\u00a0roughly equivalent\u00a0to the combined size of France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.\u00a0The largest losses were in Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n Glaciers receded\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0almost\u00a0every\u00a0European region, particularly in Iceland, which recorded its second greatest annual loss since 1976.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Greenland Ice Sheet shed around 139\u00a0gigatons\u00a0of ice. Over the past 50 years, ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica has led to\u00a0three centimeters of sea level rise. Each\u00a0additional\u00a0centimeter exposes about\u00a06 million people\u00a0to coastal flooding.\u00a0 Fossil fuels\u00a0haven’t\u00a0just driven these extreme weather events; they have\u00a0also proven to be a deeply volatile commodity in a time of geopolitical conflict. Europe has responded by investing in its own\u00a0<\/span>homegrown energy sources, with renewables now supplying\u00a0nearly half\u00a0of the continent’s electricity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wind and solar\u00a0<\/span>edged out fossil fuels in the EU for the first time in 2025, according\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>Ember,\u00a0a global energy think tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n Solar power set a\u00a0new record, contributing about 13% of the continent’s electricity. This is the fourth year running that solar has grown by more than 20%.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In Hungary, Cyprus, Greece,\u00a0Spain\u00a0and the Netherlands, solar represented\u00a0a fifth of each country’s electricity.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This milestone moment shows just how rapidly the EU is moving towards a power system backed by wind and solar,” said\u00a0Beatrice Petrovich, senior energy analyst at Ember.\u00a0“As fossil fuel dependencies feed instability on the global stage, the stakes of transitioning to clean energy are clearer than ever.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Read: <\/i><\/b>Earth’s Climate More Unbalanced Than Ever, WMO Warns<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nAnother record year of European heat\u00a0<\/h2>\n
A million hectares burned in Europe\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Europe’s vanishing snow and ice is raising seas\u00a0<\/h2>\n
A glimmer of hope for Europe\u00a0<\/h2>\n