The world's oceans hit their hottest ever recorded temperatures for July, partly fuelled by developing El Niņo conditions in the Pacific, according to the EU's climate monitoring service.
The average sea surface temperature (SST) outside the world's polar regions - between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south - was 20.96C last month, beating the previous high of 20.89C, set in 2023.
Last month was the joint second-warmest July globally on record, with temperatures 1.47C above the estimated pre-industrial average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Meanwhile, Western Europe experienced its hottest ever June and July, with prolonged hot and dry conditions fuelling extreme wildfires across the region.