Last month was the hottest January on record, blitzing the previous high and stunning climate scientists who expected cooler La Nina conditions to finally start quelling a long-running heat streak.

This means that January 2025 stands out as anomalous even by the standards of the last two years,” Hausfather explains. Writing for Discover Magazine, Tom Yulsman points out that scientists expected this January to be cooler than preceding Januaries because of the ocean current cycles like El Niño and La Niña.

Scientists are examining why January 2025 was the warmest on record despite an emerging La Niña but what is this natural phenomenon?

Last month was the hottest January on record, blitzing the previous high and stunning climate scientists who expected cooler La Nina conditions to finally start quelling a long-running heat streak.

Last month was the world's warmest January on record, despite cooler weather patterns in the Pacific.

Scientists have warned that “dangerous climate breakdown” has arrived after the warmest January ever was recorded globally, defying expectations that 2025 might be cooler than previous years. The average temperature last month stood at 13.

By Shanna Hanbury January 2025 was the warmest January on record, surpassing the previous record set by January 2024, according to satellite data from the EU’s Copernicus program. The findings were unexpected as ongoing La Niña conditions in the Pacific typically cool down global temperatures.