May 2024 Was World's Second-Hottest on Record, EU Climate Service Reports

According to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, confirmed by NASA and NOAA, May 2026 was the second-warmest May in global records dating to 1850, behind only May 2024, with a global average surface air temperature of 15.81°C. A 'heat dome' of warm air from northern Africa drove an unusually early and intense heatwave across western Europe, with 'feels-like' temperatures of 35–40°C across large parts of the continent; a temperature anomaly chart from ERA5/C3S shows a sharp cold-to-heat transition in late May well above the 1991–2020 seasonal norm. National temperature records for May were broken in the UK, France, Ireland, and Portugal, and NOAA data show record-high May temperatures covered 6% of Earth's surface, with the global temperature percentile map confirming near-universal above-average warmth. The WHO warned that more than 200,000 people have died from heat in Europe since 2022, calling heat a 'silent killer' and launching new guidelines on protecting vulnerable populations. Ocean surface temperatures were also the second-highest on record for May, and the World Meteorological Organization places an 80% probability on El Niño developing between June and August 2026, with forecasts suggesting it could be among the strongest on record and push global temperatures to historic highs in 2027. Beyond the immediate heat crisis, Copernicus noted that the world recorded its highest burned area for any January–May period in at least 15 years, with more than 150 million hectares burned globally, roughly double the recent average. A separate analysis published in the journal Science also highlighted that so-called indirect greenhouse gases — including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds — account for roughly 15% of warming to date and remain largely outside international climate accounting frameworks.