All the current weather models forecast a hot summer in the Balearics this year. Europe experienced unprecedented heatwaves on land and at sea in 2025, a year in which forest fires ravaged around 1,034,550 hectares (ha), the largest area recorded to date. At the same time, glaciers across all European regions suffered a net loss of mass and snow cover was 31% below average.
These are some of the findings of the ‘State of the European Climate 2025 Report’, published on Wednesday and produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which manages the Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). In total, the report draws on the work of some 100 scientific contributors.
According to the research, almost the entire continent (95%) recorded above-average annual temperatures last year. Notably, there was a three-week ‘record-breaking’ heatwave in the sub-Arctic region of Fennoscandia (the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, Karelia and the Kola Peninsula), during which temperatures exceeded 30°C both in areas near the Arctic Circle and within it.
Furthermore, the annual sea surface temperature in the European region was the highest on record, and 86% of the region experienced severe marine heatwaves. With regard to natural disasters, the report explains that extreme rainfall and flooding were less widespread than in recent years, although they affected “thousands of people” across Europe.
Furthermore, it notes that river flows across the continent were below average for most of the year (eleven months) and that 70% of rivers recorded annual flows below the average. Additionally, Iceland recorded the second-largest loss of glaciers in its history, and Greenland lost 139 gigatonnes of ice.
It also highlights how renewables supplied almost half (46.4%) of Europe’s electricity in 2025. In this regard, solar energy reached a new record contribution, accounting for 12.5%. Finally, it emphasises that environmental governance on the continent has increasingly recognised the close links between climate and biodiversity, “with coordinated ‘nature-climate’ approaches designed to strengthen the resilience of ecosystems”.
In this regard, it highlights measures such as, amongst others, the European Union’s (EU) commitment to restore ecosystems on a large scale, including at least 20% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. However, it stresses that “progress in Europe must be accelerated to do more and do it better, in order to protect nature and biodiversity”.
With regard to Spain, the report mentions that the south and east of the country recorded up to 50 more days than usual of severe heat stress, with heat index temperatures exceeding 32°C. Furthermore, it indicates that Spain was particularly affected by wildfires and accounted for around half of emissions from wildfires.
Dusan Chrenek, Senior Advisor for the Green Digital Transition at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action, has emphasised that the signs of climate change “remain unequivocal across Europe” and that this report is a “clear reminder” that we must “maintain and accelerate efforts on both adaptation and mitigation”.
“This edition provides compelling evidence of the profound impacts of climate change on the intensity of extreme weather events, biodiversity and the economy, whilst reinforcing Europe’s strategic ambition to further strengthen its Earth observation capabilities by harnessing cutting-edge technologies,” he emphasised.