February 2016 broke surface temperatures by a “jaw-dropping margin” new NASA data show.

The data, published on Saturday, was analysed by Dr Jeff Hansen of the Weather Underground blog, who pointed out that January 2016 also broke temperature records. The figures show average temperatures were 1.35°C above the monthly average (1951-1980), which is a worrying prospect, given that world leaders have committed to keeping temperature rises below 2°C.

Dr Masters said the record is “An ominous milestone in our march toward an ever-warmer planet” and pointed out that, “Despite efforts to slow down human emissions of carbon dioxide, 2015 saw the biggest yearly jump in global CO2 levels ever measured,” according to figures released last week by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The strong El Nino has contributed to the observed temperature rises; in El Nino years the Pacific Ocean tends to absorb less heat, which helps boost global temperatures, and 2015 - an El Nino year - was the warmest on record. Even so, February temperatures have broken records set during  the last strong El Nino in the late 90s.

February’s average was 0.21°C above this year’s record breaking January, and 0.47°C higher than the previous record, set during the ‘super’ El Nino of 1998. February did not break the record for the hottest month world-wide, which was July 2015. This record is only likely to be broken during a summer in the northern hemisphere.

The worrying figures come after the UK Met Office revealed that winter 2015/16 was the warmest in England - and the third warmest in the UK as a whole - since records began in 1910. In the south of England, mean temperatures were more than 2°C above average. The winter was also the wettest for many parts of the UK;  Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all had their wettest winters on record, and it was the second-wettest winter for the UK as a whole, just behind the winter of 2013/2014.