In the summer of 2026, many regions in Europe experienced unusual climatological conditions, raising the immediate need to know how extreme such events are compared with the historical average and how widespread they are.

EUMETSAT's satellite programmes have been building relevant data records for more than 40 years, and a new service now puts this archive within reach of a wider audience. Within days of a month's end, EUMETSAT's Climate Anomalies and Normals service now lets climate services, researchers and the public see how key climate variables compared with the long-term average, as maps, charts, time series and downloadable data drawn from records stretching back to the early 1980s.

The service, unveiled today at the European Meteorological Society's annual meeting in Utrecht, enables users to map anomalies: how far conditions in a given month and place departed from what is typical for that month and place. Launching as a prototype, it will be further developed through user feedback. The aim is to become a fully operational service delivering authoritative, up-to-date climate information, thereby supporting the climate services that advise policymakers and communities, and informing the action designed to protect people from severe weather and climate change impacts.

Four variables are available from the start: solar radiation, sunshine duration, soil moisture down to the first metre of ground, and sea-ice concentration. EUMETSAT develops and operates the service, which is built entirely on the climate data records of its Satellite Application Facilities.

A world of difference

Whether a month was unusually wet or dry, or the sunshine over a region exceptional for the time of year, can be determined comparing it with the same month over the preceding decades. The Climate Anomalies and Normals service compares each month against a 30-year average, or normal, for that month (1991–2020), the most recent standard reference period set by the World Meteorological Organization.

"Comparing a month with its long-term average depends entirely on the records behind it, and the records used in this service draw on decades of observations rigorously calibrated, quality controlled and regularly reprocessed by experts at EUMETSAT and its Satellite Application Facilities," said Rob Roebeling, Climate Product Expert at EUMETSAT. " Someone can look at soil moisture across Europe for July, then switch to sunshine for the same month, and see how the two connect – whether the driest months are also the sunniest, and how that has changed over time."

EUMETSAT's climate data records are used widely, contributing for example to the Copernicus Climate Change Service – implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) – and to national and international ‘state of the climate’ reports. The new service complements these, offering another way to visualise and explore the satellite-derived records behind them. Results can be viewed for individual countries, broad climate regions, or areas the user defines on the map, with different map projections available for Europe, Africa and suitable representations of the Earth’s polar regions. Many more additional variables, such as land surface temperature, precipitation, or atmospheric ozone are foreseen to be integrated in the service in the near future.

"This service exists to support climate monitoring, adaptation and mitigation with timely, authoritative information," said Christine Träger-Chatterjee, Lead Climate Applications Expert at EUMETSAT. "Our aim is for climate services to use it to support the information they provide to their users, and for people to take the data and develop their own analyses and services from it. Feedback from users will guide how it develops in future."

“A significant fraction of the data behind the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) comes from EUMETSAT, particularly through the Copernicus programme and the Satellite Application Facilities,” said Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, implemented by the ECMWF on behalf of the European Commission. “At ECMWF, we build on these observations by combining them with scientific expertise, modelling capabilities and operational infrastructure to deliver trusted climate information and services for users across Europe and beyond. This close partnership with EUMETSAT is fundamental to European climate monitoring. The Climate Anomalies and Normals Service offers important new perspectives on the underlying climate records, complementing what ECMWF and the Copernicus services provide. High-quality observations are the foundation of what we do, but their value depends on making them accessible, actionable and relevant for decision-makers and society.”

Access to the Climate Anomalies and Normals service is free and open at can.eumetsat.int.