Words by ITV News Deputy Content Editor Flora Hunter
It’s been a year of global conflict and domestic disharmony, but 2025 has also seen a miraculous survival, an unprecedented sporting victory, and a heroic intervention.
Here, ITV News looks back at the year through some of its most striking images.
JANUARY
Deadly wildfires, which ripped through densely populated areas of Los Angeles in January 2025, kicked off a year of record-breaking, extreme weather events, making calls to tackle climate change ever more urgent. Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean with ‘unprecedented’ force in October and the UK saw its hottest summer on record as well as its worst year for wildfires. However, within hours of his inauguration on January 20, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order putting his country’s economic needs over global climate accords.
FEBRUARY
Ukraine’s President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy got an early taste of the second Trump presidency in February with a public dressing down at the Oval Office. The US president’s continued efforts to enforce a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine saw him clash with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
MARCH
Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which began in March, was blamed for deadly levels of hunger in the war-torn territory. By August, famine was confirmed in some areas, and hundreds of Palestinians had died from malnutrition-related causes. A ceasefire in October, which led to all remaining Israeli hostages being released, brought some relief but also revealed the levels of destruction across the war-torn territory.
APRIL
Stock markets plummeted when sweeping new ‘reciprocal’ tariffs were announced by Trump on Liberation Day, sparking a chaotic trade war. The full impact of the tariffs is still being felt, with the OECD warning the effects will not be fully realised until 2026.
MAY
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, prompting a Conclave and the election of the first-ever American pontiff. Pope Leo XIV was inaugurated in May. A few months later, King Charles made history by becoming the first British monarch to publicly pray with a pope in more than 500 years, since Henry VIII’s split from the Roman Catholic Church.
JUNE
Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, hitting military and nuclear sites and sparking what became known as the 12-day war. Iran responded by launching hundreds of ballistic missiles at densely populated areas of Tel Aviv and other targets in Israel. The tit for tat strikes ended when the US launched “bunker buster” bombs at Iran’s nuclear facilities.
An Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel when it fell in a residential area of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff, killing 241 people on board, including many Britons, and at least 29 on the ground. The sole survivor later spoke to ITV News of his extraordinary escape and the grief of losing his brother, who was on the same flight.
JULY
The Lionesses won their second UEFA European Women’s Championship trophy in a row, after defeating Spain on penalties in a tense final in Switzerland. It was the first time an English team had won a major tournament abroad. It was Scottish fans’ turn to celebrate in November, when the men’s team qualified for the 2026 World Cup – the first time Scotland will take part in the finals of the tournament in 28 years.
Tens of thousands lined the streets of Birmingham for a final goodbye to rock star legend Ozzy Osbourne at the end of July. The Black Sabbath frontman’s coffin was driven through the city centre and flowers were left to honour his life, as the band’s iconic tracks were played.AUGUST
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on August 28, killing more than 1,600 people. The midday tremor with an epicentre near Mandalay – Myanmar’s second-largest city – was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock. A few months later, another natural disaster rocked the region, with devastating floods across Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia leading to the deaths of more than 798 people.
SEPTEMBER
Weekly protests outside a hotel in Epping formed part of a broader wave of anti-immigration demonstrations throughout 2025, as the government struggled to reduce the number of illegal migrants arriving on small boats in the UK. The assassination of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September was also used to mobilise support for a march and rally in central London, led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
England’s Red Roses took home the Rugby World Cup title after the women’s team beat Canada in the final round.
The Red Roses had reached the last six finals yet won only once, but on this occasion they held their nerve in front of a sold-out Twickenham Stadium, the largest ever in women’s rugby history.
Twickenham had a total of 81,885 spectators, the second-biggest crowd for any Rugby World Cup final across both men’s and women’s matches.
OCTOBER
Amid growing tension in the Middle East, there was a deadly rise in anti-semitism in 2025. One of the most shocking incidents came on the holy Jewish festival of Yom Kippur, when a gunman opened fire trying to enter a synagogue in Manchester, killing two people and seriously wounding three others.
NOVEMBER
The leading international authority on hunger crises confirmed famine had reached two regions of war-torn Sudan in early November. A few weeks earlier, the country’s two-year-long civil war had reached a decisive threshold after paramilitary forces seized the city of el-Fasher. As part of their assault on the provincial capital of North Darfur, there were reports that fighters “cold-bloodedly killed” hundreds of people, including 460 patients, at a hospital.
At least 160 people were killed after fires swept through a residential apartment block complex in Hong Kong, in one of the deadliest blazes in the city’s history. An investigation into possible corruption in the renovation of the complex was launched within days of the fatal fire.
DECEMBER
A terror attack in Australia left 15 people dead, including a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl. Shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed ran towards one of two men who opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration, jumping on the alleged attacker and wrestling a shotgun from him. The video, posted on social media, was viewed millions of times.
December also saw the long-awaited release of the Epstein files, but links to the convicted sex offender had already led to the downfall of the prince and the removal of a British Ambassador to Washington. Mounting accusations against the King’s younger brother, Andrew, led to his relinquishing some of his titles, including the Duke of York. Within weeks, amid public and political pressure, the King also stripped Andrew of his princely title. The eighth in line to the throne is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
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