State of Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025: A Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT This review summarises mean and extreme climate conditions for 2025 across the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region and is based on the State of Climate for Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 Report, recently released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report analyses 1971 rainfall stations and 1365 temperature stations across the region, complementing global observations from space. In most cases, summaries of notable weather events are also included. National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS), research centres, national and international agencies and local scientists contributed data to this annual summary for their respective regions. Associated changes in weather and climate extremes—such as extreme heat or cold, heavy rainfall, drought, tropical storms and fire weather—exacerbate existing pressures on communities and ecosystems. These changes are happening at an increasing pace; recent years have seen record‐breaking extremes contributing to disasters, such as floods, flash floods, inundation and landslides, that are exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change, including ‘compound events’, where multiple hazards and/or drivers occur together or in a close sequence, which intensifies their impacts. Heavy rainfall, in some cases due to hurricanes, triggered floods and landslides in the region and unusual snowfall was recorded in parts of Southern South America. Drought was still affecting Central Chile, Northern Mexico and parts of South America and the Caribbean. Drawing on the impacts and lessons of Hurricane Melissa, the report emphasises the importance of risk knowledge for disaster risk reduction. These climate‐related disasters are increasingly affecting the lives and livelihoods of people across LAC and the countries in the region must plan for and adapt to the changing nature of climate risk now and in the decades ahead.