Governments have been told they need to act and act quickly as new research highlights the speed of global warming.

The UK Met Office has reported 2025 was the third warmest year on record and is the third calendar year exceeding 1.4°C.

Using a combination of observations from the last decade and projections for the next ten years (2015-2034), the World Meteorological Organization estimated last year in the State of the Global Climate report that the current long-term global warming level – more relevant than the average for a single or small number of years when considering the Paris Agreement on climate change – is 1.37°C with a range of 1.34°C to 1.41°C above the average of the period from 1850-1900.

It comes after the World Economic Forum issued a warning as its latest Global Risk Report saw environmental risks falling down the agenda for businesses over the next two years.

Climate scientists from the Met Office and other organisations are examining the rise in annual global mean surface temperatures; this includes the significant recent increase seen in 2023 and 2024. The scientists confirm the main cause of climate warming is increasing greenhouse gas concentrations driven by rising emissions. The experts also cite a number of factors for the recent surge, including: the rapid transition to El Niño conditions in 2023; the accumulation of ocean heat due to the high value of Earth’s Energy Imbalance; and reductions in anthropogenic aerosol emissions.

Commenting on the three warmest year series, Professor Stephen Belcher CBE – the Met Office Chief Scientist – said: “From 2023 the globe has seen a surge in average annual temperatures. The three-year average global temperature from 2023 to 2025 has been 1.47°C above the average for 1850-1900.”

Professor Tim Osborn is the director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia added: “Our global temperature observations show that the world is continuing to warm in line with predictions made by climate scientists worldwide.

“A natural climate variation in the Pacific Ocean, known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, temporarily added about 0.1°C to the global temperature in 2023 and 2024, contributing to the abrupt onset of the recent temperature surge. This natural influence weakened by 2025 and therefore the global temperature we observed in 2025 provides a clearer picture of the underlying warming.

“Sharp and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would slow, and eventually stop, further human-caused changes in the world’s climate.”

Climate scientist Colin Morice of the Met Office continued: “The long-term increase in global annual average temperature is driven by the human-induced rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Fluctuations in the year-to-year temperature largely result from natural variation in the climate system.”

Bill Hare, (above pic) CEO and senior Scientist, Climate Analytics  said: “More clear evidence from the WMO that global temperatures continue to rise. This is yet another warning that governments are not acting fast enough and are sleepwalking toward climate disaster.

“With this warming we’re seeing increasing climate disasters across the world, without let-up: from floods and heatwaves across South Asia and South East Asia, hurricanes in the Caribbean and widespread coral bleaching and wildfire. Those lucky enough to have insurance are seeing bills skyrocket.

“There’s still time to act and return temperatures to safe levels by the end of the century. Our modelling shows there is still a ‘highest possible ambition’ pathway that leads to returning to well below 1.5°C this century. But this can only happen if governments rapidly pivot from their largely weak and incremental steps to bold implementation of renewables, efficiency, and methane cuts, backed by scaled-up finance for vulnerable and poorer countries.”

He added: “Our Climate Action Tracker team has shown that if governments implement the global goals they’ve already agreed  – to triple renewables, double efficiency, and reduce methane emissions – this would be a game changer that would  reduce projected warming by nearly one degree, taking  the world within 0.2-0.3°C of limiting warming to 1.5° or below, and cutting the rate of warming in half.”

Hare concluded: “We must act now to reduce emissions and set the world on a path back to well below 1.5°C to prevent further harm to our coral reefs and other crucial ecosystems.”

The UK Met Office has reported 2025 was the third warmest year on record and is the third calendar year exceeding 1.4°C.