Image of the week: How Sunny Was Europe in 2025?

Watching our Earth from space

This week’s image shows how sunshine levels across Europe in 2025 compared with the long-term average.

Last Updated

23 April 2026

Published on

23 April 2026

Overall, much of the continent experienced more sunshine than usual, while parts of south‑western Europe recorded below‑average sunshine duration.

The image is based on the SARAH‑3 sunshine duration dataset developed by EUMETSAT’s Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM SAF).

Using data from Meteosat satellites, this dataset covers the period from 1983 to the present, making it possible to compare recent years—such as 2025—with standard climate reference periods like 1991–2020, shown in the image.

The SARAH‑3 dataset is freely available under an open data license, and we are always pleased to see it used by researchers, analysts, and weather enthusiasts.

Sunshine duration image

The image was created by Guido Cioni, a data enthusiast who regularly explores weather and climate topics on his blog.

For this sunshine example, Guido has produced a guide on how to reproduce the analysis, including technical details.

The findings are consistent with national reports. For example, the UK Met Office has confirmed that 2025 was the sunniest year on record in the United Kingdom.

Beyond sunshine duration, SARAH‑3 provides a suite of solar radiation variables. One of the most widely used is surface incoming shortwave radiation, which plays an important role in renewable energy planning and assessment.

Germany’s national meteorological service (DWD) recently used SARAH‑3 in its annual energy-sector climate review for 2025

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Previous image of the week

Image of the week: Dust cloud heads across the Mediterranean

This week’s image is of Saharan dust moving north over the Mediterranean towards Greece, as seen from the Meteosat-12 geostationary weather satellite 36,000km above the Earth.