January set a new climate record, surprising scientists.

The past January brought abnormal warmth to Ukraine and became the warmest on record globally. It continued a trend of extreme global temperatures.

This was reported by Reuters citing the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) of the European Union. According to their data, January 2025 continued a series of extraordinary heat, with the average global temperature being 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels for 18 out of the last 19 months. The average global temperature for January was 1.75 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Such temperatures were recorded despite the world shifting away from the warming El Niño pattern and transitioning to a cooler La Niña pattern. The latter implies a cooling of the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean and may help to restrain global temperatures.

"The fact that we are still seeing record temperatures outside the influence of El Niño is somewhat surprising," noted Samantha Burgess, strategic director of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Scientists estimate that the effects of La Niña have not yet reached their peak, and the world is currently in neutral conditions between the two phases. At the same time, Burgess stated that the cooling effect of La Niña may not be sufficient to temporarily curb global temperatures, which are also influenced by factors such as extreme heat observed in other ocean basins and the primary driver of climate change: greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat.

"Undoubtedly, the largest factor contributing to the warming of our climate is the burning of fossil fuels," the scientist concluded.

Earlier, "Telegraf" reported that the snowfall that arrived in some regions of Ukraine in early February will soon cease. Snow will still be present in Ukraine throughout this week and into the beginning to mid-next week.