Türkiye recorded its hottest year on record in 2024, while 2025 was the country's driest year since 1964, according to a new analysis by the Turkish State Meteorological Service covering global and national temperature and drought trends between 2016 and 2025.
The report found that 2016-2025 was the warmest 10-year period ever recorded globally, reflecting a broader acceleration in temperatures during the decade.
According to assessments by the World Meteorological Organization, all 11 years from 2015 through 2025 ranked among the 11 warmest years on record.
Global temperatures rose sharply in 2023, followed by a record in 2024, when the average global temperature reached 15.1 degrees Celsius.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranked 2025 as the third-warmest year on record.
Global ocean heat content also reached its highest level in modern observational records in 2025, highlighting the continued accumulation of heat in the climate system.
Türkiye followed the broader global warming trend, with several temperature records recorded during the 10-year period.
The country's average temperature was 15.1 degrees Celsius in 2023, about 1.2 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, making it Türkiye's third-warmest year on record.
That record was surpassed in 2024, when the national average reached 15.6 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest year since national records began.
The average temperature for Türkiye over the 2016-2025 period was 14.9 degrees Celsius.
The meteorological service said average temperatures recorded during the decade exceeded projections under both optimistic and pessimistic scenarios across Türkiye and all regions except the Black Sea region.
Drought emerged as another major concern, particularly during 2020-2022 and in 2025.
The WMO and Copernicus/ECMWF assessments identified 2025 as Türkiye's driest year since 1964. Annual precipitation was 27.6% below normal, while rainfall deficits exceeded 60% in some parts of southeastern Türkiye.
The year was also marked by extreme heat. Türkiye's highest temperature on record was measured at 50.5 degrees Celsius on July 25 in the Silopi district of Şırnak province, according to the meteorological service.
The combination of unusually high temperatures and declining precipitation underscored the increasingly pronounced effects of climate variability across the country.
The report identified 2020-2022 and particularly 2025 as the most notable periods for drought during the decade.
The meteorological service said the 2016-2025 period clearly demonstrated the pace of warming in the global climate system and its effects in Türkiye.
"Temperature differences have become more pronounced in Türkiye, and 2024 was recorded as a new national temperature record," the report said, adding that 2025 stood out as the country's driest year since 1964.
Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum described the findings as evidence that climate change is already affecting Türkiye.
"Climate change is not an issue of the future, but of today," Kurum said in a social media post. "Climate change mitigation is now a necessity. We will continue working toward a climate-resilient Türkiye."
