September 2020 was the warmest September on record in Europe and across the world, with the global average 0.05° warmer than the previous warmest September in 2019.
Temperatures were well above average in many regions, including off the coast of northern Siberia, in the middle East, in parts of South America and Australia, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Cooler than average conditions marked the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, consistent with the ongoing La Nina event.
Europe in September 2020 was predominantly warmer than the 1981-2010 average for September.
Temperatures were mostly above average in countries bordering the Black Sea, but relatively warm conditions were also experienced over the western Balkans, the Baltic States and France.
Temperatures over France were particularly warm in a record-breaking period in the middle of the month.
Elsewhere it was cooler than average in a few places, most notably Iceland.
It was also generally warmer than usual over the Arctic Ocean as a whole. In contrast, it was especially cold over northern Greenland.
Averaging over 12-month periods smooths out shorter-term variations in regional and global-average temperatures.
Globally, the 12-month period from October 2019 to September 2020 was 0.65° warmer than the 1981-2010 average.
The value for this period is a little below that of the 12-month periods ending in May 2020 and September 2016, the two warmest periods in this record.
European temperatures
There is more variability in average European temperatures, but values are more certain due to the relatively dense observational coverage of the continent.
The latest average, to September 2020, is about 1.6° above the 1981-2010 average.
The warmest calendar year on record for Europe was 2019, though by only a narrow margin. Its average temperature was 1.2° above the 1981-2010 average.
