August 2026 tied with July 2023 as the warmest month on record globally, according to data released Thursday by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The global average surface air temperature reached 16.96 degrees Celsius, or 0.85 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average. This surpassed the previous joint record of 16.82 degrees Celsius set in August 2023 and August 2024. The margin over July 2023 was less than 0.01 degrees Celsius, resulting in a statistical tie.

Temperatures stood 1.65 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial 1850-1900 average, marking the first month above the 1.5-degree threshold since November 2025. Record warmth occurred over both land and extra-polar oceans, with sea surface temperatures hitting their highest August level and tying the all-time monthly high.

A strong El Niño event in the tropical Pacific contributed significantly to the elevated readings, alongside long-term warming trends. Scientists noted that the El Niño pattern is expected to strengthen further, potentially driving additional record temperatures into late 2026 and 2027.

In the United States, the lower 48 states recorded an average temperature of 75.6 degrees Fahrenheit for August, the highest on record and 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, per National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. The Northern Hemisphere summer from June to August also tied 2024 as the warmest on record globally.

Copernicus data, derived from the ERA5 reanalysis extending back to 1940, showed August 2026 warmer than July in the same year, an uncommon occurrence that has happened only four other times in the dataset.

Western Europe experienced its warmest summer on record for the continent as a whole during this period.