India, Jan. 2 -- India recorded its eighth warmest year in 2025 despite a relatively mild summer and robust monsoon, while January 2026 is expected to bring cooler days across most of the country with relief from severe cold waves in the northwest, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

The annual mean land surface air temperature in 2025 was 0.28degC above the 1991-2020 long-term average, underlining the persistent warming trend even in years without strong El Nino influence. The country experienced mostly ENSO neutral and La Nina conditions last year, which typically do not drive the kind of warming seen during El Nino years.

The warmest year on record remains 2024, when temperatures soared 0.65degC above the long...