By Kate AbnettBRUSSELS, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Last year was among the planet’s three warmest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday, as EU scientists also confirmed average temperatures have now exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming for the longest since records began.The WMO, which consolidates eight climate datasets from around the world, said six of them – including the European Union’s European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the British national weather service – had ranked 2025 as the third warmest, while two placed it as the second warmest in the 176-year record.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also confirmed in data released on Wednesday that 2025 was the third-warmest year in its global temperature record, which dates back to 1850.All eight datasets confirmed that the last three years were the planet’s three hottest since records began, the WMO said. The warmest year on record was 2024.THREE-YEAR PERIOD ABOVE 1.5 C AVERAGE WARMING LEVELThe slight differences in the datasets’ rankings reflect their different methodologies and types of measurements – which include satellite data and readings from weather stations.ECMWF said 2025 also rounded out the first three-year period in which the average global temperature was 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era – the limit beyond which scientists expect global warming will unleash severe impacts, some of them irreversible.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”1.5 C is not a cliff edge. However, we know that every fraction of a degree matters, particularly for worsening extreme weather events,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for …
