Ken Okeke
Countries in Africa recorded devastating floods and other severe weather conditions leading to deaths and displacement.
A report released on June 18 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), showed that extreme weather events affected at least 13 million people and caused more than 3,000 deaths across Africa in 2025.
The paper, titled State of the Climate in Africa 2025, shows that floods and droughts were the most significant weather-related disasters during the year. Floods alone accounted for more than half of all reported extreme weather events.
In West Africa, devastating floods in Nigeria killed more than 200 people in May. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, floods claimed more than 160 lives in April, highlighting the growing intensity of seasonal rainfall events across the continent.
East Africa was particularly hard hit, with more than 8.5 million people affected by drought. Prolonged dry conditions worsened food insecurity and water shortages across the Horn of Africa and neighboring regions.
The Sahel recorded above-average rainfall, extending a trend observed in recent years, while much of East Africa and the Horn of Africa remained drier than normal. In Southern Africa, rainfall patterns were highly variable, with intense downpours triggering floods. In North Africa, heat waves and prolonged drought caused major damage to agricultural production, threatening food security and livelihoods.
The report also notes that Africa is warming faster than the global average. Based on available datasets, the continent’s average annual surface air temperature ranked between the third and seventh highest ever recorded. Temperatures were 0.51°C above the 1991–2020 average.
North Africa recorded the largest temperature anomaly among Africa’s subregions in 2025, at 0.76°C above the 1991–2020 average. Southern Africa recorded the smallest anomaly, at 0.21°C above the same reference period.
Beyond floods and droughts, the report highlights long-term climate shifts that are already reshaping the continent.
African glaciers have lost more than 90 per cent of their surface area since the late 19th century. Ice cover on Mount Kilimanjaro has shrunk from 11.4 square kilometers in 1900 to just 0.98 square kilometers in recent years.
Glacier coverage on Mount Kenya and the Rwenzori Mountains, which straddle the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, has also declined sharply, falling from 1.64 square kilometers to 0.07 square kilometers and from 6.51 square kilometers to just 0.38 square kilometers, respectively.
The report also shows that sea-level rise along African coastlines between 1999 and 2025 exceeded the global average of about 3.6 millimeters per year in several regions.
Sea levels rose by around 4.2 millimeters annually along the Atlantic coast, 5.2 millimeters along the Indian Ocean coast, and 5.6 millimeters in the Red Sea.
At the same time, warming waters and increasing ocean acidification are damaging marine ecosystems and threatening the livelihoods of communities that depend on fishing. Average sea surface temperatures around Africa have increased by 0.14°C per decade since the late 19th century, while ocean surface pH has declined by 0.017 units per decade.
Despite the growing frequency and severity of climate-related changes, which are fueling more destructive weather events and placing additional pressure on already vulnerable communities, only 40 per cent of African countries have multi-hazard early warning systems. As a result, millions of people still lack access to timely alerts that could help save lives and reduce damage, particularly in rural areas that are often the most exposed.
The WMO estimates that climate-related costs can reach as much as 5 per cent of gross domestic product in African countries, creating a major obstacle to economic development and poverty reduction efforts.
The agency is calling on African governments and their development partners to strengthen climate adaptation measures, improve disaster preparedness, and increase investment in early warning infrastructure to better protect communities from increasingly frequent and intense climate events.