January 2026 marked the fifth warmest January in recorded history, according to the EU's climate monitoring service Copernicus. With an average global temperature of 12.95 degrees Celsius, this January was 0.51 degrees above the average for the 1991-2020 period and 1.47 degrees warmer than the pre-industrial average set from 1850-1900. The temperatures this year were close to the 1.5-degree target outlined in the Paris Agreement, highlighting ongoing climate change challenges despite regional fluctuations.

In stark contrast to global trends, Europe faced its coldest January since 2010, with an average temperature of -2.34 degrees Celsius. This situation arose due to unusual fluctuations in the polar jet streams, which transported cold air from the Arctic to southern regions, causing severe cold spells across large areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Nations in the Nordic region, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, Siberia, and parts of North America experienced significant temperature drops.

The divergence in temperature patterns between Europe and other parts of the world underscores the complexities of climate change, where some areas suffer extreme cold while others are excessively warm. Such extreme weather variations can have profound implications for ecosystems, agriculture, and energy consumption patterns, underlining the necessity for adaptive policies and a robust response to the immediate effects of climate change.