March 2026 was globally the fourth-warmest on record, at 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
C3S also confirmed that March had its second-warmest global sea surface temperature (SST) on record, reflecting a likely transition toward El Nino conditions.
The month saw Europe experience its second-warmest March on record and much of the continent saw drier-than-average conditions.
This comes after a colder-than-average and exceptionally wet February with widespread flooding, marking the third coldest February for the continent in the last 14 years.
March was also marked by severe heat and dry conditions in other parts of the world, including an unprecedented early heatwave and drier-than-average conditions in parts of the US and Mexico.
As in February, C3S recorded strong contrasts in warmer and cooler than average temperature anomalies across the northern hemisphere.
In the Arctic, both the annual maximum sea ice extent and monthly average for March were the lowest on record.
Director of Copernicus Climate Change Service at ECMWF, Carlo Buontempo commented: “Copernicus data for March 2026 tells a sobering story: 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels, the lowest Arctic sea ice extent on record for March, and sea surface temperatures again approaching historic highs.
“Each figure is striking on its own – together, they paint a picture of a climate system under sustained and accelerating pressure.
“Reliable data, produced operationally from billions of measurements across satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations, is no longer a scientific luxury.
“It is the essential foundation for any serious climate adaptation and policy response.”
March weather in Europe
The average temperature over European land for March 2026 was the second-warmest at 5.88°C, 2.27°C above the 1991-2020 average for March.
The warmest March on record was in 2025.
Almost the whole of Europe experienced warmer-than-average temperatures, with the most pronounced warm conditions occurring over north-west Russia, northern Fennoscandia, and the Baltic States. Slightly cooler-than-average conditions were seen over Turkiye, southern Europe, and most of Iceland.
Outside Europe, warmer-than-average temperatures were most pronounced across the US – where a prolonged heatwave affected the western part of the country – as well as much of the Arctic, north-east Russia, and parts of Antarctica.
In contrast, unusually cold conditions occurred across Alaska, most of Canada, southern Greenland, and northwest Siberia.