August was the world’s hottest on record, Finnish institute says

August 2026 was the hottest August worldwide since records began, according to the Copernicus climate service, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said in a statement reported by Yle.

August also tied July 2023 as the hottest month ever recorded. The global average temperature was 16.96 degrees Celsius, 0.85 degrees above the 1991 to 2020 average.

Global temperatures were 1.65 degrees above the estimated preindustrial average for 1850 to 1900. This meant the average temperature once again exceeded the 1.5 degree threshold considered critical, for the first time since November 2025, the institute said.

August brought the hottest summer on record to western Europe. The previous record was set in 2003. Across Europe, August was the fourth hottest on record, with an average temperature of 20.26 degrees, or 1.10 degrees above the 1991 to 2020 average.

“Breaking the heat record in western Europe is a sign of climate change and its growing harmful effects, including premature deaths, crop losses and water shortages,” Petteri Taalas, director general of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, said in the statement. He added that tackling climate change is economically far cheaper than dealing with its harmful effects.

In Finland, the average temperature in August was close to normal, according to the institute.