Hottest January on record called ‘terrifying’ by climate scientists after defying expectations

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. We’ll get the research models out now to try and understand it, but that won’t have answers for a few months at the earliest.” He added: “Irrespective of why it happened, it’s scary and highlights the urgency of taking serious climate action.” open image in gallery Damage to a building during Storm Eowyn which hit the UK in January The biggest driving factor for this record temperature remains greenhouse gas build-up from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. open image in gallery Map shows areas in orange where temperatures were higher in January 2025 Ben Goloff, senior climate campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, added in a statement shared with The Independent: “Pulling out of Paris shows how threatened Trump is by the recent global compact to transition away from fossil fuels. Professor Stefan Doerr, director of the Centre for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, told the BBC: “While fires are common and natural in this region, California has seen some of the most significant increases in the length and extremity of the fire weather season globally in recent decades, driven largely climate change.” open image in gallery 11,000 homes were destroyed in the LA wildfires Scientists warned climate change had made the grass and shrubs that fuelled the fires more vulnerable to burning, due to “whiplash” conditions creating tinder-dry vegetation ready to ignite. While the UK may have experienced a cooler January than on average, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Samantha Burgess, explained: “A much larger area of the planet’s surface was much, much warmer than average.” Professor Adam Scaife from the Met Office, added: “Global temperatures reached a new record last year and this January.