Second highest sea surface temperatures recorded in April

April 2026 marked the second-highest sea surface temperatures ever recorded in oceans outside polar regions, with strong marine heatwaves dominating the tropical Pacific. The global average surface air temperature reached 14.89°C, 1.43°C higher than pre-industrial levels, making it the joint third-warmest April on record worldwide, per the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service. In Europe, temperatures varied sharply: southwestern regions like Spain experienced record warmth, while eastern Europe saw below-average conditions, resulting in the continent’s tenth-warmest April. The Arctic recorded its second-lowest sea ice extent for April, reinforcing trends of declining ice coverage. Extreme weather events intensified globally, including tropical cyclones in the Pacific, devastating floods across the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria—where landslides claimed lives—and droughts in southern Africa. Flash flooding and landslides in the Middle East and south-central Asia further highlighted the month’s volatility. Precipitation patterns diverged across Europe, with western and central regions facing drier-than-average conditions due to persistent high pressure, while eastern Europe, the UK, Iceland, parts of Spain, and the Maghreb saw above-average rainfall. Globally, wetter conditions prevailed in the northeastern U.S., Canada, Japan, southern China, Brazil, and New Zealand, while drier conditions dominated the southeastern U.S., Central Asia, Madagascar, Australia, and parts of South America. Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, noted the data underscored a planet increasingly shaped by climatic extremes, with near-record sea surface temperatures, low Arctic ice, and contrasting regional weather anomalies.