World sees second hottest May as Europe faces ‘new normal’: EU monitor

Novak Djokovic of Serbia cools himself during a break of the third round men's singles tennis match against Joao Fonseca of Brazil at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PARIS, France -- The world experienced its second-hottest May on record, with Europe baking under an unusually early heatwave as climate extremes become the “new normal” on the continent, the EU’s climate monitor said Wednesday.

Records were broken in Britain, France, Ireland and Portugal last month as a “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa pushed temperatures well above normal levels across western Europe.

“The month was marked by a rapid transition from much cooler-than-average conditions to one of the most intense heatwaves ever observed this early in the year in western Europe,” the Copernicus Climate Change Service said in its May bulletin.

The “unusually early and intense heatwave demonstrates how quickly climate extremes are becoming the new normal rather than the exception”, said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium–Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus.

“Feels-like” temperatures reached 35 C to 40 C across large parts of Europe, Copernicus said.

“The rapid transition likely increased impacts on populations, leaving little time for people -– or crops and ecosystems during growing season –- to acclimatize to much higher temperatures,” it said.

Globally, the average surface air temperature reached 15.81 C -- second only to May 2024, according to Copernicus.

The average sea surface temperature was also the second highest on record behind May 2024 as conditions shift towards the warming El Nino weather pattern.

Forecasts have warned that the coming El Nino could be one of the strongest on record, which could push global temperatures to historic highs in 2027.

Temperatures stayed at “exceptionally high levels” across a swathe of the tropical Pacific, Copernicus said.

El Nino has an 80-per-cent chance of developing between June and August, increasing the risk of extreme weather events, the World Meteorological Organization said last week.

The last El Nino contributed to making 2023 the second-hottest year on record and 2024 the all-time high.