August 2026 was the warmest August on record globally, tying with July 2023 as the warmest month ever recorded. Summer 2026 (June to August) was also the joint-warmest boreal summer globally, matching 2024.
In Europe, it was the third-warmest summer on record for the continent as a whole and the warmest for western Europe. Sea surface temperature over the extra-polar oceans reached a record high for August and was the joint-highest recorded for any month.
August 2026 in a broader climate context:
- August 2026 was 1.65°C above the estimated 1850-1900 pre-industrial average for the month, marking the first month above 1.5°C since November 2025.
- The record-high global temperature reflected not only record-high sea surface temperatures outside the polar regions, particularly in the Pacific (see below), but also record-high temperatures over land areas. The average temperature over global land was the highest on record for August, at 15.73°C, slightly above the previous August record of 15.71°C set in 2024. However, it was not the highest across all calendar months.
- The average global temperature for the last 12 months (September 2025 to August 2026) was 0.60°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.48°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.
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