February continued streak of record or near-record temperatures throughout last two years, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
“One of the consequences of a warmer world is melting sea ice, and the record or near-record low sea ice cover at both poles has pushed global sea ice cover to an all-time minimum,” says Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at ECMWF.
Daily sea ice extent
Daily global sea ice extent, which combines the sea ice extents in both polar regions (North Pole-Arctic region and South Pole-Antarctic region) reached a new all-time minimum in early February and remained below previous record of February 2023 for the rest of the month, the C3S report said.
Arctic sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent for February, at 8 per cent below average. This marks the third consecutive month in which the sea ice extent has set a record for the corresponding month. Antarctic sea ice reached its fourth-lowest monthly extent for February, at 26 per cent below average.
Touches annual minimum
The daily sea ice extent may have reached its annual minimum near the end of the month. If confirmed, it would be the second-lowest minimum in the satellite record. Confirmation will only be possible in early March. The new record low for the Arctic in February is not an all-time minimum. Arctic sea ice is approaching its annual maximum extent, which typically occurs in March.
Warmest for Europe
Over land, the average temperature over Europe for February 2025 was 0.44°C, which was 0.40°C above the 1991-2020 average for February, ranking it well outside the 10 warmest months of February for Europe. European temperatures were most above average over northern Fennoscandia (Scandinavian and Kola peninsulas including Finland), Iceland and the Alps. A large region of negative anomalies was recorded for eastern Europe.
Above average level
Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average over large parts of the Arctic. They were also above average over northern Chile and Argentina, western Australia and the south-western US and Mexico.
But temperatures were most notably below average over parts of the US and Canada. Other regions with below-average temperatures include the regions adjacent to the Black, Caspian and eastern Mediterranean Seas, as well as in a large region in eastern Asia, covering parts of southern Russia, Mongolia, China and Japan.
Average temperature for European land for winter 2025 (December 2024 to February 2025) was joint second highest on record for the season at 1.46°C above the 1991-2020 average, significantly cooler than the warmest European winter in 2020 (2.84°C).