EU climate change service warns global sea ice cover at record low and third-warmest February globally

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) is warning that daily global sea ice extent, which combines the sea ice extents in both polar regions, reached a new all-time minimum in early February and remained below the previous record of February 2023 for the rest of the month.

Arctic sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent for February, at 8% below average. This marks the third consecutive month in which the sea ice extent has set a record for the corresponding month.

Antarctic sea ice reached its fourth-lowest monthly extent for February, at 26% below average. The daily sea ice extent may have reached its annual minimum near the end of the month. If confirmed, it would be the second-lowest minimum in the satellite record. This confirmation will only be possible in early March.

Implemented by the ECMRWF on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, C3S routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air and sea temperatures, sea ice cover and hydrological variables.

Additionally, the bulletin also includes highlights regarding the boreal winter (December 2024-January 2025-February 2025). Most of the reported findings are based on the ERA5 reanalysis dataset, using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.

February 2025 – Surface air temperature and sea surface temperature highlights include:

Global Temperatures

February 2025 was the third warmest February globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 13.36°C, 0.63°C above the 1991-2020 average for February, and only marginally warmer, by 0.03°C, than the fourth warmest of 2020.

February 2025 was 1.59°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level and was the 19th month in the last 20 months* for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.

The global-average temperature for boreal winter 2025 (December 2024 to February 2025) was the second highest on record at 0.71°C above the 1991-2020 average for these three months, 0.05°C cooler than the record set for boreal winter 2024.

The 12-month period of March 2024 – February 2025 was 0.71°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.59°C above the pre-industrial level.

Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) commented:

“February 2025 continues the streak of record or near-record temperatures observed throughout the last two years. One of the consequences of a warmer world is melting sea ice, and the record or near-record low sea ice cover at both poles has pushed global sea ice cover to an all-time minimum.”

C3S is also reporting its findings for Europe and other regions.

The average temperature over European land for February 2025 was 0.44°C, 0.40°C above the 1991-2020 average for February, ranking it well outside the 10 warmest months of February for Europe.

European temperatures were most above average over northern Fennoscandia, Iceland and the Alps. A large region of negative anomalies was recorded for eastern Europe.

Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average over large parts of the Arctic. They were also above average over northern Chile and Argentina, western Australia and the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Temperatures were most notably below average over parts of the United States and Canada. Other regions with below-average temperatures include the regions adjacent to the Black, Caspian and eastern Mediterranean Seas, as well as in a large region in eastern Asia, covering parts of southern Russia, Mongolia, China and Japan.

The average temperature for European land for winter 2025 (December 2024 to February 2025) was the joint second highest on record for the season at 1.46°C above the 1991-2020 average, significantly cooler than the warmest European winter in 2020 (2.84°C).

Sea surface temperature

The average sea surface temperature (SST) for February 2025 over 60°S–60°N was 20.88°C, the second-highest value on record for the month, 0.18°C below the February 2024 record.

SSTs remained unusually high in many ocean basins and seas, though the extent of these regions decreased compared to January, especially in the Southern Ocean and in the southern Atlantic. Some seas, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, on the contrary, saw larger record-breaking areas than last month.

February 2025 – Hydrological highlights

In February 2025, Europe saw predominantly below-average precipitation; this coincided with below-average surface soil moisture in much of central and eastern Europe, south-eastern Spain and Türkiye.

Iceland, Ireland, southern UK, part of southern France and central Italy were wetter than average.

In February 2025, it was drier than average in most of North America, southwest and central Asia, easternmost China as well as most of Australia and South America, with Argentina experiencing wildfires.

Wetter-than-average conditions were seen in eastern and western USA, Alaska, and parts of Canada, and in regions of the Arabian Peninsula, central Russia and central Asia. Southeastern Africa and the South Pacific saw the transit of several cyclones, which led to significant damage.

Implemented by the ECMRWF on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, C3S routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air and sea temperatures, sea ice cover and hydrological variables.

Additionally, the bulletin also includes highlights regarding the boreal winter (December 2024-January 2025-February 2025). Most of the reported findings are based on the ERA5 reanalysis dataset, using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.