Brussels: The world experienced its fifth hottest February on record, with western Europe enduring extreme rainfall and widespread flooding, as reported by the European Union's climate monitor on Tuesday. Global temperatures last month rose 1.49 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial era, which is defined as the period between 1850 and 1900, before large-scale fossil fuel usage began to significantly impact climate change. According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, temperatures and precipitation patterns varied widely across Europe. Despite the average temperature in Europe being among the three coldest in the past 14 years at -0.07 degrees Celsius, regions in western, southern, and southeast Europe faced above-average temperatures, as noted by the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Conversely, colder conditions prevailed in northwest Russia, the Baltic countries, Finland, and its Scandinavian neighbors. The continent also experienced contrasting wet and dry conditions. While much of western and southern Eu rope was wetter than average, the rest of the continent experienced mostly drier conditions. Additionally, the United States, northeast Canada, the Middle East, Central Asia, and east Antarctica reported warmer-than-average temperatures. Sea surface temperatures reached the second highest level for February, and the Arctic's average sea ice extent was at its third lowest for the month, being five percent below average. In contrast, the Antarctic's monthly sea ice extent was close to average, diverging sharply from the much below-average levels observed over the previous four years, as reported by Copernicus. Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus, emphasized the urgent need for global action in response to these extreme February 2026 events, highlighting the growing impacts of climate change. She noted the stark temperature contrasts experienced in Europe and the record rainfall and widespread flooding in western and southern Europe caused by exceptional atmospheric rivers. The World Weather Attribution network of climate scientists pointed out that human-driven climate change intensified the torrential downpours that resulted in dozens of fatalities and displaced thousands of people across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco between January and February.
