Europe Climate – March 2026 Update
Top 5 Countries: Russia, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Italy
This month in numbers
Europe experienced its second-warmest March on record, with temperatures averaging +2.64°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. The 3-month anomaly stands at +1.35°C, while the 12-month rolling anomaly from April 2025 to March 2026 reached +1.60°C. Globally, March 2026 was the fourth-warmest March on record.
Hottest & coolest countries
Switzerland climate page recorded the highest anomaly this month at +3.55°C, closely followed by Austria climate page at +3.51°C and Denmark climate page at +3.49°C. These countries experienced significantly warmer conditions than usual. In contrast, Cyprus climate page was the coolest, with an anomaly of +0.38°C.
What's driving change?
The current ENSO state is Neutral, with an anomaly of +0.11°C for February-March-April 2026. The dominant probability for May-June-July is El Niño at 61%, increasing to 79% for June-July-August and 87% for July-August-September, indicating a likely transition to El Niño conditions in the coming months. ENSO tracker This shift is expected to contribute to global warmth. Much of continental Europe saw drier-than-average conditions in March, while Iceland, the northern UK, much of Scandinavia, and parts of the Mediterranean experienced wetter-than-average conditions, with some heavy precipitation leading to flooding. A late-season Arctic plunge brought significantly colder air and snow to parts of Central Europe and the Balkans towards the end of March.
Looking ahead
Forecasts for the coming months indicate a widespread global signal for above-normal land surface temperatures, with high model agreement across much of the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Temperature – Average
Europe – Monthly Temperature – All Years
Each line represents one year of monthly temperature in °C.
4BYO continent aggregate · equal-weight mean of member country monthly absolute temperatures (OWID/CRU TS).
Shifting Seasons
Warm / cold seasonsHow spring and autumn have shifted in Europe. Spring is defined as the date monthly temperatures first rise above the long-term annual mean (8.3°C, from 1941–1970); autumn is the date they fall back below it. Temperature swings 18.8°C peak-to-peak across the year - a classic four-seasons rhythm.
Baseline vs recent monthly temperature climatology. Biggest warming: Feb (+3.2°C).
4BYO continent aggregate · OWID/CRU TS country monthly temperatures.
Explore Countries on this Continent
This page shows the NOAA continental series. To browse country-level pages within Europe, use the countries tab on the Climate Updates hub and filter by continent.
Open Climate Updates → CountriesHottest & Coolest in Europe this Month
1-month anomaly vs 1961–1990 across the 23 members we cover. Click a name to open its profile.
Data Sources
- NOAA Climate at a Glance — continental land temperature · Open at NOAA
- Two-baseline model — comparison baseline 1961–1990; native baseline 1901-2000. Methodology →
Data Sources
Data Sources for Europe
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Europe changing?
Europe is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Europe come from?
Climate data for Europe comes from authoritative climate datasets including national meteorological services and peer-reviewed reanalyses, refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Europe climate data cover?
The Europe climate profile covers Russia, Germany, France, United Kingdom and surrounding areas. The fastest-warming continent in the NOAA record
How often is the Europe climate update refreshed?
The Europe climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.