European agency says 2024 is "virtually certain" to be warmest year on record

Climate scientists working at the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service have announced that 2024 is "virtually certain" to be the warmest year on record.

According to its ERA5 dataset, the agency said it was "virtually certain" that the annual temperature for 2024 will be more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, and it will likely be more than 1.55 C above.

For decades, scientists have warned that average global temperatures should not get any higher than 1.5 C above pre-industrial times in order to prevent deadly weather conditions that could impact people worldwide.