Around 95% of Europe experienced above-average temperatures in 2025, with record heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic region. This caused rapid loss of glacier mass and snow cover, according to the latest State of the European Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released on Thursday.

All of Europe’s glaciers saw a net mass loss, with Iceland recording its second-largest glacier loss on record.

The continent experienced dangerously high air temperatures, drought, heatwaves and record ocean temperatures. This has translated into economic and biodiversity loss affecting countries and ecosystems across the continent.

“Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the impacts are already severe. Almost the whole region has seen above-average annual temperatures,” said Florian Pappenberger, Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), an inter-governmental organisation that contributed to the report along with WMO.

Also read: Europe is World’s Fastest Warming Continent With Record Temperatures in 2024

Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average

The impact of the temperature increases is most visible in the coldest regions, such as the Arctic and the Alps. Snow and ice play a critical role in slowing climate change by reflecting sunlight into space in what is known as the albedo effect.

“In 2025, sub-Arctic Norway, Sweden and Finland recorded their worst heatwave on record with 21 straight days and temperatures exceeding 30°C within the Arctic Circle itself,” Pappenberger of ECMWF said.

This also pushed up temperatures within and adjacent to the Arctic Circle to over 30°C, peaking at 34.9°C in Frosta, Norway.

Ironically, low levels of air pollution in Europe allow more solar radiation to reach the surface, leading to a higher rate of warming.

The number of cold stress days when temperatures drop below normal is also reducing. Nearly 90% of the continent experienced fewer cold stress days than average, and minimum temperatures remained above average for most of the year.

Hot, dry conditions resulted in more wildfires. A record total area of around 1,034,000 hectares was burnt across Europe – an area larger than Cyprus. Spain, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany recorded their highest wildfire emissions on record in 2025.

Record loss of glacier mass

The Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere and covers 80% of Greenland, lost 139 gigatonnes (139 billion tonnes) of ice. This is equivalent to 1.5 times the volume stored in all glaciers in the European Alps.

Such ice loss contributes to rising global sea levels, with every centimetre increase exposing an additional six million people to coastal flooding.

Overall, snow cover was 31% below average, affecting 1.32 million square kilometres, which is equivalent to the combined area of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

“The ESOTC 2025 paints a stark picture: the pace of climate change demands more urgent action. With rising temperatures, and widespread wildfires and drought, the evidence is unequivocal; climate change is not a future threat, it is our present reality,” Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at ECMWF said.

Rising ocean heat, reducing river flow

Oceans absorb 90% of the atmosphere’s excess heat due to the burning of fossil fuels. In 2025, Europe’s sea surface temperature was the highest on record.

Around 86% of the region experienced strong marine heatwaves, disrupting fish and the ocean plants.

Changes in rainfall and snowfall patterns have also affected the flow in 70% of Europe’s rivers. In May 2025, around half of Europe (53%) was affected by drought conditions.

“Maintaining our own state-of-the-art, reliable data records of our Earth system is vital for making informed policy decisions in our rapidly changing climate. Copernicus is pivotal to help us preserve our sovereignty, our environment, food systems, safety, and economy,” said Mauro Facchini, Head of the European Commission’s Copernicus, is the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme.

Renewable growth and actionable items for policymakers

A silver lining in the report is the growth of renewable energy, which in 2025 supplied nearly half (46.4%) of Europe’s electricity. Solar power contributed around 12.5% of this, a new regional record.

Countries have begun to see energy security as a national security issue, and that appears to be one of the reasons driving the growth of renewables, including the adoption of nuclear energy at a higher rate compared to recent decades.

Another positive was that by the end of 2025, around half of the European Biodiversity Strategy 2030’s recommended actions were in place or completed. The strategy is a European Union plan to restore the continent’s biodiversity.

The report highlighted initiatives like Ireland’s network of marine protected areas, Armenia’s biodiversity finance plan, and Iceland’s funding to assist in recovering wetlands as examples of policy interventions that can help arrest biodiversity loss.

Image Credits: Unsplash/Jochen Bückers, WMO.