August 2026 Ties Hottest Month on Record as El Niño Strengthens

August 2026 Ties Hottest Month on Record as El Niño Strengthens

August 2026 tied the hottest month ever recorded. The Copernicus Climate Change Service released that finding on Thursday. It matched July 2023 in the global temperature record.

The global average surface air temperature stood 1.65°C above the estimated pre-industrial baseline. That also made August the first month to exceed 1.5°C since November 2025. Meanwhile, a strengthening El Niño helped push the heat higher.

Sea surface temperatures also set records. Extra-polar oceans tied March 2024 for the highest monthly average. Daily extra-polar sea surface temperature also reached a new peak of 21.11°C. Copernicus linked that warmth to strong El Niño conditions in the tropical Pacific.

This update follows a World Meteorological Organization warning issued on 3 September. The WMO said El Niño is now firmly established. It also said the event will intensify into a very strong phase in the coming months. Forecasts give a near 100% chance that it will last through February 2027. As a result, rainfall and temperature patterns may shift across many regions.

Copernicus is the Earth observation programme of the European Union. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts supports the service. Together they track global weather and climate data.

Western Europe also closed its warmest summer on record. The previous regional mark came in 2003. Heatwaves continued in August after an unusually hot stretch that began in May. Large parts of western, central, and eastern Europe stayed dry as well. France, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia reported severe drought. Major rivers ran unusually low, including the Rhine, Danube, Southern Bug, and Dnieper.

Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at ECMWF, called August 2026 a remarkable month in the climate record. She said the observations show climate change driving extremes in both the atmosphere and the oceans. She added that communities, economies, and ecosystems are already feeling those impacts.

On the same day, UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell spoke in Brussels. He told a European Parliament committee that climate impacts are already visible. He pointed to extreme heat, pressure on infrastructure, disrupted trade, and strain on crops and food prices. He also urged countries to work together on clean energy supply chains. He noted that the Turkish COP31 Presidency, working with Australia, has set Action Agenda targets, including a goal for electricity to meet 35% of final global energy demand by 2035.

Copernicus also said record-high Pacific sea surface temperatures are helping the El Niño event intensify. According to the service, those conditions are already affecting land. In Indonesia, they are favouring stronger seasonal wildfires.