Berlin, 8 August 2024 (dpa/MIA) - July 2024 was both second-warmest July and the second-warmest month on record, the European Union's climate change service Copernicus said on Thursday.

July 2024 saw a global average temperature of 16.91 degrees Celsius, 0.04 degrees Celsius lower than the average temperature in July 2023, currently the hottest month on record.

Until June, monthly average temperatures had broken records every month since May 2023.

"The streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker," deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service Samantha Burgess said.

"The overall context hasn't changed, our climate continues to warm. The devastating effects of climate change started well before 2023 and will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net-zero."

For the period from August 2023 to July 2024, the global average temperature was 1.64 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, according to Copernicus data.

Earth experienced its two hottest days ever in July - with the daily global-average temperature reaching 17.16 degrees Celsius and 17.15 degrees Celsius on July 22 and 23.

The average European temperature in July exceeded the average value for the month from 1991 to 2020 by 1.49 degrees Celsius, making it the second warmest July since records began in Europe.

According to the report, temperatures were mostly above average over southern and eastern Europe, but near or below average over north-western Europe.

The European Union's Copernicus climate service regularly publishes data on the earth's surface temperature, sea ice cover and precipitation.

The findings are based on computer-generated analyses that incorporate billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.