Paris heat wave frenzy: Swimmers defy canal ban

We've already seen some really incredible heat records broken in 2026. The United Kingdom notched its hottest May temperature on record, and the same persistent European heat wave propelled more than half of France to its warmest May since record-keeping began there.

Parts of the U.S. have endured stretches of unbearable early-year heat, too. So with all of these heat waves making headlines, it's reasonable to ask if 2026 will be the hottest year ever recorded.

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Some scientists feel strongly that we're heading in the direction of a new record, especially with an El Niño expected to be in place very soon, and lasting for much of the remaining year. Climate scientist James Hansen has gone on the record in saying that 2026 will end up being the hottest year on record, topping the current record, which was set just two years ago in 2024.

That year, global temperatures were 2.32 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1991-2020 average, according to NOAA. And since pretty much every year in the past decade has fallen ever so slightly shy of the 2024 record — tenths of a single degree, in some instances — it's likely that 2026 will be in the race for all 12 months.

Of course, it matters very little to you or me whether the yearly global average is a tenth of a degree warmer or "cooler" than that 2024 record, because with every day that passes, it becomes more likely that 2026 will be yet another warmer-than-average year for the planet.

While we're still awaiting the May climate report from NOAA, we do know that through April, the planet had its fifth-warmest start to any year in 177 years of record-keeping.

So although 2026 certainly isn't running ahead of the record pace set two years ago, it remains to be seen just how much of a boost El Niño will provide for the remainder of this year.

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