March 2025 Was Europe’s Hottest Yet – And the Climate is Speaking Loud and Clear

Rituraj Phukan

As climate records continue to fall like dominoes, one thing is clear: the planet is changing fast. From scorched lands to vanishing ice, March 2025 was a stark reminder that the future is here—and it’s getting warmer.

March 2025 didn’t just stroll in quietly—it made history. According to the latest Climate Bulletin from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), Europe experienced its warmest March on record, while the world as a whole recorded its second-hottest March ever. And if that wasn’t enough, sea ice in the Arctic hit a record low for the month, continuing a worrying trend.

C3S Bulletin temp 202503 Fig6 map sst anomalies and extremes.png

Globally, the average surface air temperature reached 14.06°C—that’s 0.65°C above the March norm for 1991–2020. This puts March 2025 just a whisker (0.08°C) shy of the warmest March ever recorded, which occurred only a year ago in 2024. Even more striking? It’s the 20th time in the past 21 months that global temperatures have soared more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—a threshold that climate scientists have long warned about.

March 2025 marked the 20th month of a 21-month period with global surface air temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. During 14 of these months, from September 2023 to April 2024 and October 2024 to March 2025, temperatures ranged between 1.58°C and 1.78°C. The remaining months had temperatures close to 1.5°C, specifically May, June, August, and September 2024, and July and August 2023.

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Meanwhile, ocean temperatures also pushed toward alarming highs. The global sea surface temperature (outside polar regions) hit 20.93°C, narrowly missing the March 2024 record by just 0.12°C.

Europe: A Continent on Fire (Except for a Few Cool Pockets)

Across Europe, the thermometer told a fiery tale. The continent’s average land temperature hit 6.03°C, which is 2.41°C above the 30-year norm. Eastern Europe and southwestern Russia were particularly hot spots. But not everywhere felt the heat—Spain and Portugal bucked the trend, with the Iberian Peninsula and northern Morocco experiencing cooler-than-average conditions.

Weather-wise, southern Europe got soaked. Intense storms lashed parts of the Iberian Peninsula, Norway, Iceland, and northwestern Russia, pushing rainfall totals to historic highs in several places. Some areas clocked their wettest March on record since 1979.

In stark contrast, the UK and Ireland basked in their sunniest March since 1919, with rainfall levels dropping so low that some records were shattered. A broad swath of central Europe stretching to Greece and Türkiye also experienced unusually dry conditions. For regions like Germany, Türkiye, and parts of Scandinavia, it was the driest March in decades.

Europe experienced predominantly above-average temperatures, with the most significant warm anomalies observed in eastern Europe and southwest Russia. Conversely, the Iberian Peninsula recorded colder-than-average temperatures. Globally, temperatures were notably above average across extensive regions of the Arctic, particularly over the Canadian Archipelago and Baffin Bay. Additionally, above-average temperatures were observed in the United States, Mexico, parts of Asia, and Australia.

Sea Ice: Melting Into the Record Books

The Arctic ice cap—Earth’s natural thermostat—had another rough month. For the fourth consecutive month, the region saw its lowest sea ice extent on record for this time of year, down 6% from the average. And because March typically marks the seasonal peak in sea ice, 2025 also claimed the title of lowest annual maximum extent since records began in 1979.

Arctic sea ice extent continued to remain at record lows during March 2025, consistent with the preceding three months. The average extent for this month was recorded at 14.2 million km², which represents the lowest value for March in the 47-year satellite data history. This figure is 0.9 million km², or approximately 6%, below the 1991–2020 average for March.

The previous lowest extent in March was observed in 2018, which was 5% below average. Given that March also marks the annual maximum extent of Arctic sea ice, the month represented the lowest annual maximum in monthly sea ice extent ever documented for the region.

In March, the average Antarctic sea ice extent was 3.3 million km², which is 24% below the 1991–2020 average, marking the fourth lowest in the 47-year satellite record. This continues a trend of large negative anomalies—over 20% below average—since 2017. Since early 2022, most months have had sea ice extents among the five lowest on record. The lowest March extent occurred in 2017, at 33% below average.

Every month, the Copernicus Climate Change Service provides a snapshot of Earth’s changing climate—tracking temperatures, precipitation, and sea ice. And March 2025 delivered a full suite of extremes.

Rituraj Phukan: Founder, Indigenous People’s Climate Justice Forum; Co-Founder, Smily Academy ;National Coordinator for Biodiversity, The Climate Reality Project India; Member, IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group; Commission Member – IUCN WCPA Climate Change, IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation, IUCN WCPA Indigenous People and Protected Areas Specialist Groups, IUCN WCPA South Asia Region and IUCN WCPA-SSC Invasive Alien Species Task Force; Member, International Antarctic Expedition 2013; Climate Force Arctic 2019 ; Ambassador, Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. Rituraj Phukan is the Climate Editor, Mahabahu.

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