An exceptionally sunny July in western Europe: SARAH-3 data show strong positive sunshine duration anomalies across northern France, southern England and Ireland. Locally, values exceeded 250% of the long-term average, more than 2.5 times the usual July amount.

A solar fun fact: On 8 July, about 99% of humanity experienced daylight or twilight at the same time. How much solar radiation actually reached the surface was another matter: clouds, the atmosphere and solar elevation created a much more varied picture. Shown here with CM SAF’s global CLARA data.

A complementary climatological view: CM SAF’s Sunny Days tool uses SARAH-3 solar radiation data to estimate the probability of sunny days throughout the year. For Palma de Mallorca, the chance of a 5-day sunny period peaks around the 12 August eclipse. www.cmsaf.eu/SunnyDays

AEMET@aemet.es · 3w ago

🌘🌑🌒 Falta menos de un mes para el eclipse total de sol que será visible desde España. Todavía es pronto para un pronóstico, pero ¿en qué zonas es más probable que los cielos estén despejados a tenor de las estadísticas de los últimos años? 👇 aemetblog.es/2026/05/29/e...

Great news for the EUMETSAT SAF Network: CDOP-5 has been approved by the EUMETSAT Council and the contracts have been signed today. We look forward to continuing the next phase of CM SAF with our European consortium partners.

New CM SAF data release: GIRAFE v1 ICDR extends the global precipitation Climate Data Record beyond 2002-2022.

Show your stripes, but from space. 🛰️ For #ShowYourStripes Day, we created stripe plots for three CM SAF satellite climate variables: solar radiation, sunshine duration and cloud cover. Not temperature stripes, but climate stripes.

New on the CM SAF website: a short highlight article on our contribution to the European State of the Climate Report 2025. Clouds, sunshine duration, satellite-based climate data records, and a look behind the scenes of the report process. 🔗 www.cmsaf.eu/EN/Highlight...

Greetings from Norrköping, Sweden, where the CM SAF Steering Group met at SMHI this week. The meeting included productive discussions and key decisions on the GIRAFE ICDR and on climate anomalies & normals to support climate services in @eumetsat.int member states. Thanks to SMHI for hosting us!

Greetings from Utrecht, where the CM SAF consortium is meeting for this year’s in-person International Board Meeting. A valuable opportunity to discuss current activities, future plans and collaboration across our European partner network. Many thanks to @knmi.nl for hosting us!

Nice to see SARAH-3 sunshine duration data from CM SAF featured in #ESOTC2025. Long-term satellite-based climate data records help to put recent sunshine and cloudiness patterns into climate context.

Copernicus ECMWF@copernicusecmwf.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In 2025, sunshine duration in Europe was around 5% above average, with sunshine & surface solar radiation much above average in northwestern, central & eastern Europe & parts of the Mediterranean. @ecmwf.int & @wmo-global.bsky.social #ESOTC2025 ⬇️

From satellite data to running shoes: DWD/KU43 was on the move. Colleagues from DWD/KU43 joined the 13th Merck Firmenlauf in Darmstadt, representing CM SAF, ESA Knowledge Exchange and ENWIKOR. A nice evening of running, team spirit and friendly competition with our ESA and EUMETSAT colleagues. 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

How are surface and top-of-the-atmosphere radiation changing over time? Today at #EGU26, Jörg Trentmann presents CM SAF work on shortwave and longwave radiation variability using satellite data records such as SARAH-3, CLARA-A3 and HANNA. 📍 08 May | 16:15–18:00 CEST | Hall X5 | X5.146

Satellite data can also help checking station data. At #EGU26, a GEBA poster shows how SARAH-3 and CLARA-A3 support quality control of long-term surface energy flux observations, helping to identify suspicious values and possible inhomogeneities. 📍 08 May | 16:15–18:00 CEST | Hall X5 | X5.147

Great to present the upcoming new version of the CM SAF HOAPS dataset, HOAPS 5.0, at #EGU26. The poster session has wrapped up. Thanks to everyone for the engaging discussions and interest. Looking forward to what comes next!

CM SAF at #EGU26 in Vienna Several CM SAF colleagues and partners will present posters on satellite-based climate data records, covering radiation, water vapour, ocean-atmosphere interaction, evapotranspiration and surface fluxes. A short thread 👇

The European State of the Climate 2025 report is now out. CM SAF contributed again this year, including input on clouds, sunshine duration and solar radiation. Read the report here: climate.copernicus.eu/esotc/2025 #ESOTC

On Wednesday, 29 April, ECMWF/C3S and WMO will launch the European State of the Climate 2025 report. CM SAF contributed again this year, including input on clouds, sunshine duration and solar radiation. There is still time to register for the launch event: t.co/VoVITRDkE0 #ESOTC

CM SAF is at the MicroRad2026 in L’Aquila 🇮🇹 Karsten Fennig presents CM SAF work on microwave radiances for climate data records, from precipitation and water vapour to liquid water path and evaporation-related quantities. More info 👉 www.microrad2026.it A small thread 👇

Nice to see CM SAF’s SARAH-3 sunshine duration dataset featured by EUMETSAT. A good example of how satellite climate data records help to put recent conditions into perspective. ☀️

EUMETSAT@eumetsat.int · 3mo ago

☀️ Image of the Week: How Sunny Was Europe in 2025? Much of the continent saw more sunshine than usual last year, while parts of south-western Europe came in below average. In the UK, 2025 was the sunniest year on record. Find out more at our website 👇 bit.ly/4cFZTUJ Data from @cm-saf.eumetsat.int

Today is #WorldMeteorologicalDay. This year’s theme is “Observing Today, Protecting Tomorrow”. From surface stations to satellites, observations are the backbone of weather, climate monitoring and early warnings. #Meteorology #Climate

External webinar tip: ESA CCI's monthly series on monitoring climate change from space (methods + ECV science). Useful context for satellite CDR users incl. CM SAF. Next: sea level altimetry 18 Mar 2026; permafrost temps 22 Apr 2026. climate.esa.int/en/climate-change-initiative-training/webinars/

CM SAF visiting scientist Dr. Chris Kidd (University of Birmingham) joined us to refine passive-microwave precipitation retrievals for SSM/I (1987-2008). This feeds into upcoming GIRAFE updates and extends global precipitation time series. DOI:10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/GIRAFE/V001

☀️ Sunshine duration anomalies in 2025 from CM SAF SARAH-3 satellite data. While much of Central and Northern Europe saw above-average sunshine, Spain and Eastern Europe were below average. In the UK, 2025 was reported as the sunniest year on record.

🇨🇭 The Swiss Drought Platform has won the German Award for Good Administration! It combines Sentinel data with CM SAF climate records to produce the Vegetation Health Index (VHI), supporting national drought monitoring efforts. 🔗 trockenheit.admin.ch

🌲 Satellites can reveal subtle signals of forest growth, as shown in a new EUMETSAT use case. Studies like this rely on long-term, stable climate observations, including the global climate data records provided by CM SAF. 🔗 vuser.eumetsat.int/resources/ca...

The CM SAF R Toolbox has just been updated on CRAN! 🎉 Easily access, analyse, and visualise satellite-based Climate Data Records - no R coding needed! The new cmsaf, cmsafvis, and cmsafops versions are now available: 👉 www.cmsaf.eu/R_toolbox

☀️ At the EUMETSAT Climate Symposium, @meteofrance.com showed how CM SAF SARAH sunshine duration data provide far more detailed national maps than ground-based networks alone. A great example of the added value of satellite-based climate data!

🌍 The EUMETSAT Climate Symposium 2025 starts today in Darmstadt! Meet CM SAF experts at the Fair of Opportunities and explore how satellite-based climate data support energy, water, and climate services.

DYK the clouds above our oceans play a role in understanding climate? ☁️ Marine stratocumulus clouds, which reflect sunlight & help cool the oceans, are shrinking as sea temperatures rise. Fewer clouds mean warmer oceans - learn how satellites can help track this critical change: bit.ly/497OPPZ

🌍 Do low clouds accelerate global warming? New research using CM SAF satellite data shows: ocean warming reduces stratocumulus cloud cover − less reflection, more heat. A feedback loop that could intensify climate change. 🔗 [http://bit.ly/4oe0LEf](bit.ly/4oe0LEf)