July smashed global records for warmth, beating all 1627 previous months since 1880, as a monster El Nino in the Pacific combined with background climate change, US scientists said.

Last month, average sea and land surface temperatures across the planet were 16.61 degrees, beating the previous monthly record during the tail-end of another huge El Nino event in 1998 by about one-seventh of a degree, according to the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Record global heat was recorded in July as a monster El Nino combined with background warming.

Five of the first seven months of 2015 have set new heat records for the respective month, making it all but certain that this year will eclipse 2014 as the hottest year since reliable records began in 1880.