Average global temperatures are forecast to reach near-record levels in the next five years, ‌with Arctic temperatures expected to warm faster than other regions, a report by the U.N. weather agency and the UK’s Met Office said on Thursday.

The annual report which gives regional predictions for temperatures and rain predicts that annual global mean near-surface temperatures will range between 1.3°C and 1.9°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.

"There's very clear evidence that the climate is warming and that the global average temperature is continuing to rise," Melissa Seabrook, a research scientist at the UK Met Office, told Reuters.

The report said it is very likely that the global mean near-surface temperature will temporarily exceed 1.5C above the 1850-1900 average levels for at least one year between 2026 and 2030.

It also predicts there will be one year between 2026 and 2030 that average global temperatures will exceed the warmest year on record, 2024, when they surpassed 1.5C above the pre-industrial era for the first time.