UN weather agency confirms hottest decade on record

An unhoused person cools off using a fire hydrant as a heatwave engulfs southern California in Los Angeles, California, US Mar 18, 2026. REUTERS

The years between 2015 and 2025 have been the hottest since records began, the UN weather agency said on Monday, with 2025 ranking either second or third overall.

The World Meteorological Organization report said 2015-2025 were the hottest 11 years since records began in 1850.

2025 was either the second or third hottest on record, the WMO State of the Global Climate report said, at about 1.43 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

This confirms an earlier report from the WMO that 2025 was one of the three hottest on record.

Glacier mass loss at key sites was among the five worst on record, the report said, with exceptional declines reported in Iceland and North America.

"The state of the global climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The report also confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year at about 1.55 degrees C above the pre-industrial average.

Governments pledged under the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to avoid exceeding 1.5 degrees C of global warming.