Nigeria Climate
Top 5 Cities: Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Abuja, and Port Harcourt
This month in numbers
Nigeria experienced its 5th warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 31°C, an anomaly of +1.3°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. This follows a trend of unusually high temperatures, as the February–April 2026 period ranked as the 4th warmest such period in 86 years, with an average of 30.05°C, an anomaly of +1.5°C. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest on record for land temperatures, with the February–April period also ranking as the 2nd warmest globally.
What changed
The past three months have seen Nigeria consistently warmer than average, with March 2026 showing a significant anomaly of +2.0°C. This contributes to a long-term warming trend for the country, which has seen an increase of +0.82°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline, with 2025 being the warmest year on record. Nigeria's 1-month temperature anomaly for April 2026 was +1.29°C, placing it 151st out of 234 regions globally. For the 3-month anomaly, Nigeria ranked 130th globally at +1.53°C. The broader African continent also experienced warmer conditions, with the group mean anomaly for April at +1.38°C.
What’s driving change?
The warmer temperatures in Nigeria are being influenced by the broader trend of global warming and the effect. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has warned of warmer temperatures and variable rainfall patterns across the country for 2026. The current ENSO state is Neutral, with a +0.11°C anomaly, though forecasts suggest a likely transition to El Niño by May–July 2026, with probabilities rising to 79% by June–August and 87% by July–September. El Niño typically brings drier and warmer conditions to Nigeria. Nigeria has also been grappling with extreme heatwaves, particularly in April 2026, which have been exacerbated by the effect in densely populated areas like Lagos. Furthermore, Nigeria is facing a high risk of widespread flooding in 2026, with warnings issued for 33 out of 36 states, and the peak flooding season expected between July and September. This follows a pattern of increasing rainfall variability and intense rainfall events, which experts attribute to climate change, transforming once-rare 10-year events into near-annual occurrences.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Loading climate data...
Data Sources
Data Sources for Nigeria
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 Nigeria changing?
Nigeria 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 Nigeria come from?
Climate data for Nigeria comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), 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 Nigeria climate data cover?
The Nigeria climate profile covers Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Abuja and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Nigeria
How often is the Nigeria climate update refreshed?
The Nigeria 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.