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Abstract Global reanalyzes are widely used for investigations of Antarctic climate variability and change. The European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts 5th generation reanalysis (ERA5) is well regarded and spans 1940 to today. We investigate whether ERA5 reliably represents the 2‐m air temperature trends across the 1940–2022 (83 years) period at seasonal and annual time scales. We compare ERA5 temperatures with an observation‐based temperature reconstruction for Antarctica (RECON) that has monthly resolution for 1958–2022, the period of reliable observational availability. Results for individual stations are also examined. ERA5 anomalously warms Antarctica in relation RECON especially for the period prior to 1979 when satellite observations over the Southern Ocean were sparse. Trend hotspots that are shown to be artifacts are found at three locations and are present until today. The results demonstrate that ERA5 temperature trends can be questionable even today, but variability is well captured after 1979.