April 2025 was the second warmest April globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 14.96°C. Last month, global temperature was 1.51°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define pre-industrial levels. These are some of the conclusions the Copernicus Climate Change Service published in its latest monthly climate bulletin.
The average temperature over continental Europe for April 2025 was 9.38°C, 1.01°C above the 1991-2020 April average, making it the sixth warmest April on record for Europe. Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average in the Russian Far East and much of western and central Asia. They were also above average over most of North America, part of Australia, the Antarctic Peninsula, and West Antarctica.
Sea surface temperature
The mean sea surface temperature (SST) for April 2025 (above 60°S–60°N) was 20.89°C, the second highest value on record for that month. Sea surface temperatures (SST) remained unusually high in many ocean basins and seas.
Large areas of the northeastern North Atlantic continued to show record-high SSTs for the month. Most of the Mediterranean was much warmer than average, but not as record-high as in March.
Hydrological highlights
Arctic sea ice was 3% below average, the sixth lowest monthly sea ice extent for April in the 47-year satellite record. Antarctic sea ice was 10% below average, the 10th lowest on record for the month.
In April 2025, it was drier than average in much of Central Europe, Great Britain, southern Fennoscandia, and part of Eastern Europe. It was generally wetter than average in most of southern Europe, northern Norway, southern Finland, and parts of western Russia.
It was also extremely wet in parts of Canada and Alaska, the midwestern US, parts of easternmost and central Russia, southern Africa, northern Australia, and central South America. Heavy rainfall led to flooding and damage in many of these regions.
