March 2026 was the fourth hottest on record, the second hottest in Europe.
March 2026 was the fourth warmest March on record globally, and the second warmest on record in Europe, according to a report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service released this Friday.
According to the Service, implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), sea surface temperatures were also near record levels for the month of March, the second highest ever recorded (the warmest March was in 2024), which may indicate a transition to El Niño, an oceanic phenomenon that raises temperatures worldwide.
According to the data now released, March had a temperature 1.48ºC above pre-industrial levels.
Europe experienced its second warmest March on record, and much of the continent experienced drier-than-average conditions, as was the case in Portugal, with above-normal temperatures and below-average rainfall, according to information released by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA).
In a statement regarding the balance of the month of March, Copernicus highlights that the high temperatures contrasted with a colder-than-average and exceptionally rainy February, with widespread flooding (for example in Portugal), which made it the third coldest February in Europe in the last 14 years.
Around the world, the month of March was also marked by intense heat and drought conditions in some regions, including an unprecedented early heat wave, and drier-than-average conditions in parts of the United States and Mexico.
As in February, Copernicus reports strong contrasts in March between warmer and colder-than-average temperature anomalies across the Northern Hemisphere. In the Arctic, the maximum annual extent of sea ice and the monthly average for March were the lowest on record.
Quoted in the statement, Carlo Buontempo, director of the ECMWF's Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: “The Copernicus data for March 2026 tell a worrying story: 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels, the lowest extent of Arctic sea ice ever recorded for March, and sea surface temperatures approaching historic highs again.”
He added: "Each number is impressive in itself — together, they paint a picture of a climate system under constant and increasing pressure."
Specifically, according to the document, the average global air temperature in March was 13.94°C, 0.53°C above the average for March from 1991 to 2020. The hottest March ever recorded was in 2024.
Taking into account the estimated average for 1850-1900, used to define the pre-industrial level, March had a temperature 1.48ºC above that average.
In the Arctic, the average sea ice extent in March was 5.7% below average, almost matching the record for March (last year). And the daily sea ice extent reached its lowest winter maximum, tied with the winter maximum recorded in March 2025.
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