Analysis shows Central Asia, the Sahel and northern Europe endured their hottest year ever in 2025, with Tajikistan temperatures over 3C above average.
PARIS: Central Asia, the Sahel region and northern Europe experienced their hottest year on record in 2025.
Globally, the last 12 months are expected to be the third hottest ever recorded after 2024 and 2023, according to provisional data from the European Copernicus programme.
This global average masks overall records shattered in specific parts of the world.
AFP independently analysed Copernicus data from climate models, satellite measurements and weather stations to complete the global picture.
The detailed analysis for 2025 revealed 120 monthly temperature records were broken in more than 70 countries.
Every country in Central Asia broke its annual temperature records.
Landlocked Tajikistan saw the highest abnormal temperatures in the world, at more than 3C above its seasonal averages.
Monthly temperature records have been broken there every month since May, with the exception of November.
Neighbouring countries such as Kazakhstan, Iran and Uzbekistan experienced temperatures 2C to 3C above the seasonal average.
Temperature records were also beaten in several countries in the Sahel and west Africa.
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Chad saw temperatures 0.7C to 1.5C above their seasonal average.
The last 12 months were the hottest ever recorded in Nigeria, and one of the fourth hottest in the other countries.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution network stated extreme heat events have become almost 10 times more likely since 2015.
Around 10 European countries are on the verge of breaking their annual temperature record, notably due to an exceptional summer.
In Switzerland and several Balkan countries, summer temperatures were 2C and even 3C above their seasonal average.
Spain, Portugal and Britain also recorded their worst summer on record, with extreme heat fuelling massive wildfires.
Northern Europe instead experienced an abnormally warm autumn.
The last 12 months are expected to be one of the two warmest years on record in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
