The recent chill felt across parts of the Northern Hemisphere might have left you reaching for an extra blanket, and there’s a good reason for that. January marked the coldest month in Europe in sixteen years, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This icy blast was largely attributed to a “meandering polar jet stream” that allowed frigid air to surge southwards, impacting both Europe and North America. For Europe, the average temperature dipped to a frosty –2.34°C, a figure not seen since 2010.
A Tale of Two Hemispheres: Cold in the North, Heat in the South
However, while Europe shivered, the Southern Hemisphere experienced a dramatically different climate. Record-breaking heatwaves scorched landscapes, igniting devastating wildfires across Australia, Chile, and Patagonia. Simultaneously, other regions in the south, such as South Africa and Mozambique, grappled with severe flooding.
Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), highlighted this stark contrast. “January 2026 delivered a stark reminder that the climate system can sometimes simultaneously deliver very cold weather in one region, and extreme heat in another,” she stated. Burgess further emphasised the growing need for societal resilience and adaptation strategies in the face of escalating climate risks, acknowledging that while long-term warming trends are driven by human activities, these extreme events underscore the importance of preparedness.
Global Temperature Snapshot: A Mixed Bag
On a global scale, January was still the fifth-warmest month on record, with an average surface air temperature of 12.95°C. This equates to 0.51°C above the 1991-2020 average and a significant 1.47°C above pre-industrial temperatures.
Europe, as mentioned, was an outlier, experiencing temperatures 1.63°C below its 1991-2020 average. C3S data indicated widespread cold conditions across Fennoscandia, the Baltic States, eastern Europe, Siberia, and the central and eastern United States.
Conversely, the Arctic experienced much warmer-than-average temperatures, particularly in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Baffin Bay, Greenland, and the Russian Far East. Southern South America, northern Africa, central Asia, and most of Australia and Antarctica also recorded above-average temperatures.
Precipitation Patterns: Wet and Dry Extremes
Beyond temperature, precipitation patterns also showed significant regional variations. Much of western, southern, and eastern Europe, including the UK, experienced a wetter-than-average January. This led to considerable flooding, causing damage and disruption across the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, the western Balkans, Ireland, and the UK.
Outside of Europe, regions like Canada, northern Mexico, the southern USA, central Asia, easternmost Russia, Japan, southeastern Brazil, northern Australia, and southern Africa also saw wetter-than-average conditions.
In contrast, drier-than-average conditions were prevalent in large parts of central Europe, northwestern coastal and southern USA, southern China, much of extratropical South America, and significant portions of southern and western Australia.
Sea Ice Extent: Shrinking in Both Poles
The analysis also delved into the extent of sea ice at both the North and South Poles. In the Arctic, average sea ice extent was six per cent below the norm for January. This deficit was particularly pronounced in the northern Barents Sea, between Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, as well as in Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea – areas that also experienced significantly above-average air temperatures.
The Antarctic fared similarly, with its monthly sea ice extent falling eight per cent below average. While sea ice concentrations were above average in the Weddell Sea, most other ocean sectors around Antarctica, especially the Bellingshausen Sea, saw below-average concentrations. These findings paint a complex picture of a climate system exhibiting simultaneous extremes, underscoring the urgent need for global awareness and proactive measures to address climate change and its multifaceted impacts.
