According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in July the global temperature of the land and sea surface was 0.92°C above the average verified during the 20th century (15.8°C), making the last month the second hottest July in 140 years, equalling July 2016.

NOAA's monthly climate data on a global scale reveal that July 2020 was just 0.01°C to match the hottest July of 2019.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the surface temperature of the land and sea was in July 2020 the warmest for the month of July, with a record of 1.18°C above average.

Eastern Canada, the northern Pacific, the north-eastern and south-western United States, western Asia and eastern Antarctica recorded a temperature at least 2°C above the average for the month of July.

According to the NOAA report, the extent of the mass of ice in the Arctic Ocean was in July 2020 the smallest for this month - 23.1 percent less than the average verified in the reference period (1981-2010).

In the Southern Ocean, the extent of ice recorded in July this year was the ninth smallest for this month, being 1.9 percent below the 1981-2010 average.

In the first seven months of 2020, the global temperature of the land and sea surface was the second highest since 1880, exceeding the average recorded in the 20th century (13.8°C) by 1.05°C. The record belongs to 2016.

Between January and July, temperatures were 2.0°C above the average in North Asia.

In mainland Portugal, according to statistics from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), the month of July 2020 was the warmest in 89 years, with the average maximum air temperature reaching 33.34°C.

The monthly climatological bulletin of the IPMA states that July was an "extremely hot" month in the continental territory, having contributed to the seven months of the year (January to July) being the warmest since 1931, with the average temperature reaching 15.96°C (+ 1.51°C).