Northwestern Europe Was Exceptionally Dry During Second-Warmest May on Record, EU Scientists Say

The average surface air temperature globally in May stood at 15.79C, 0.53C above the 1991-2020 average for the month, the European Union’s Copernicus said on Thursday.

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Last month, the second-warmest May ever recorded globally, brought exceptionally dry conditions to north-western Europe.

May’s global average surface air temperature of 15.79C was the second-highest ever recorded for the month, 0.12C cooler than the record May of 2024, and 0.06C warmer than the third warmest of 2020, according to data by the Earth observation component of the European Union’s Space programme Copernicus.

The month was also 1.40C above the pre-industrial level – which the EU programme defines using the 1850-1900 average. It marked the first time since August 2024 that the global-average temperature exceeded 1.5C – a key target set by the international community to limit global warming.

Beyond 1.5C of global warming, experts warn that critical tipping points will be breached, leading to devastating and potentially irreversible consequences for several vital Earth systems that sustain a hospitable planet, such as rising sea levels, more intense heatwaves, stronger storms, and disruptions to ecosystems and biodiversity.

But Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus Climate Change (C3S), cautioned against celebrating what he called a “brief respite for the planet,” warning that the 1.5C threshold will likely be exceeded again in the near future.

The planet has already warmed 1.3C since the Industrial Revolution, with the United Nations warning that the world is already on track for 3.1C of warming.

Last month’s global temperatures lowered the chances that 2025 will be the hottest year in history to 8%, though there is still a 50% chance that it will end up as the second-warmest year on record, according to research independent climatology research organization Berkley Earth.

Exceptionally Dry

Much of northern and central Europe were drier-than-average in May, with north-western parts of the continent seeing the lowest precipitation and soil moisture levels since at least 1979, according to the monthly bulletin. Persistent dry conditions have led to the lowest spring river flow across the continent since record-keeping began in 1992.

The past three months were drier than average also over western North America and extra-tropical South America, the Horn of Africa, parts of central Asia, China, and south of Australia, Copernicus added.  

A recent study commissioned by non-profit WaterAid that looked at the world’s top 100 most-populated cities and 12 other cities concluded that 44% of urban centers worldwide are getting drier. The Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona, France’s capital Paris and Germany’s capital Berlin were among the top-20 cities facing increasing dry extremes.

Featured image: Alisdare Hickson/Flickr.