Turkey Climate
Top 5 Cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, and Antalya
This month in numbers
April 2026 saw Turkey's average temperature at 10.04°C, an anomaly of +0.5°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline, ranking it as the 34th warmest April in 86 years of records. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperature, with an anomaly of +1.1°C.
What changed
The three-month period from February to April 2026 recorded an average temperature of 6.04°C, marking a significant anomaly of +1.1°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. This ranks as the 24th warmest such period in 86 years. Turkey's 1-month anomaly for April placed it 213th out of 234 regions, indicating it was cooler than many other areas globally. In contrast, the global land temperature for the same three-month period ranked as the 2nd warmest on record, with an anomaly of +1.2°C.
What’s driving change?
Turkey has experienced a series of extreme weather events in recent months. In early May 2026, a supercell storm brought intense rainfall, strong winds, and flash flooding to southeastern Turkey, particularly impacting Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa. This storm resulted in one fatality and dozens of injuries, alongside significant structural damage and disruptions to transportation and daily life. Simultaneously, western Turkey experienced unseasonal snowfall, leading to highway closures and school suspensions. Additionally, several tornadoes were reported in northern and western Anatolia in May, causing damage to homes and barns and injuring at least five people. These events are consistent with a broader trend of increasing extreme weather in Turkey, with experts noting a tripling of meteorological disasters in the country over the last 15 years, driven by rapid changes in rainfall patterns linked to climate change. The entire Mediterranean and Black Sea basins have seen an unprecedented acceleration of high-energy supercell storms over the past two months.
Looking ahead
Turkey is preparing to host and chair COP31 in Antalya in November 2026, with a focus on translating past climate decisions into action and addressing climate financing.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Turkey
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 Turkey changing?
Turkey 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 Turkey come from?
Climate data for Turkey 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 Turkey climate data cover?
The Turkey climate profile covers Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Turkey
How often is the Turkey climate update refreshed?
The Turkey 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.