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The Arctic just experienced its hottest year on record, a milestone that scientists have said is already changing weather systems far beyond the region.

Surface air temperatures across the Arctic between October 2024 and September 2025 were the highest since at least 1900, according to the Arctic Report Card, released this week by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It shows the region is now warming at more than twice the global average, with its 10 warmest years all coming in the past decade.

The warning came after a recent Copernicus report said this year was set to be the second or third warmest on record, potentially surpassed only by the record-breaking heat of 2024.

The earth is on track to complete the first three-year period when the average global temperature exceeded 1.5C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period when people started burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale.

"The Arctic is warming several times faster than Earth as a whole, reshaping the northern landscapes, ecosystems, and livelihoods of Arctic peoples," the latest report says. "Also transforming are the roles the Arctic plays in the global climate, economic, and societal systems."

In August, parts of the Arctic Ocean's Atlantic sector recorded sea surface temperatures around 7C above the 1991–2020 average, an extreme anomaly that researchers linked to the growing influence of warmer Atlantic waters pushing northwards – a process known as "Atlantification".

The latest findings come as researchers document accelerating ice loss, record precipitation, warming oceans and widespread disruption to Arctic ecosystems – changes they warn are no longer confined to the far north.

You can read more on this here. 

This newsletter will be taking a short break over Christmas and will be back in your inbox on 2 January. Until then, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a restful holiday season

Arctic warms at more than twice global rate in hottest year on record (Noaa)

Trump team moves to dismantle one of the world's leading climate research labs

By Brendan Rascius

AI data centers may have created as much pollution as New York City and used a world's supply of bottled water in just one year

By Io Dodds

Will it snow this Christmas? Met Office issues latest verdict

By Shaheen Uddin

Stuti's must reads

A Filipino mother who says her family had to "swim for our lives" as a storm surge tore through her home during a 2021 typhoon is among the survivors suing Shell in the UK, in a case that will likely test whether fossil fuel companies can be held liable for specific climate disasters.

The claim, lodged at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, involves over 100 Filipinos affected by Super Typhoon Rai – known locally as Odette – which struck the country in December 2021, killing nearly 400 people and devastating coastal communities across the central Visayas, one of the three main island groups of the Philippines.

The suit seeks compensation for deaths, injuries and destroyed houses, arguing that Shell's greenhouse gas emissions helped drive climate change in ways that made the storm more likely and more destructive.

Read more

Each winter, Delhi slips back into a familiar emergency. A thick blanket of toxic smog settles over the city, visibility reduces, schools shut, flights are disrupted, and hospitals report a surge in respiratory illnesses. Temporary measures are rolled out in the form of construction bans, vehicle restrictions, and appeals to work from home, but they fail to convert into lasting solutions.

The national capital's air quality crisis is not unique. Cities across the Indo-Gangetic plain in northern and eastern India, from Lucknow to Varanasi, experience similar winter pollution spikes. Outside India, cities such as Tehran in Iran and Lahore in Pakistan also struggle with seasonal smog driven by geography, weather and emissions. What makes Delhi stand out is the severity, persistence, and scale of its pollution, and how little improvement has been achieved despite years of emergency responses.

Read more

CLIMATE IN NUMBERS

1.46C

The UK's national weather service, in its annual outlook, forecasts 2026 to reach an estimated 1.46C above the 1850-1900 baseline, indicating a persistent "warming surge."

Read more

The Independent has launched a project to investigate the impact of foreign aid cuts on the developing world. The project receives funding from the Gates Foundation. All of the journalism is editorially independent.

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Sierra Leone almost entirely axed from UK aid budget: 'Lives of mothers and babies are at stake'

By Rachel Schraer

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This Christmas, we're asking for your help again as we launch our new campaign with the charity Missing People – the SafeCall appeal.

Every year, more than 70,000 children in the UK are reported missing. The misery that follows – for the child, for the family, for the community – is often hidden. Too many of these young people have nowhere to turn when they need help most. SafeCall will change that. Our goal is to raise £165,000 to help Missing People launch this new, free service – designed with the input of young people themselves – offering round-the-clock support, advice and a route to safety."

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