The past few days have seen a disconcerting spate of record-breaking temperatures across Europe, according to meteorologists. In a warming trend that has been observed across the continent, eight European countries have seen their warmest January days on record. Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia have all felt the heat, with temperatures soaring to unprecedented heights.
In Korbielów, Poland, the temperature hit a staggering 19C (66F), a figure typically associated with May, while Vysokaje, Belarus, saw temperatures reach 16.4C, beating the country’s previous record January high by 4.5C. These record-breaking temperatures are not limited to individual countries, as thousands of local measuring stations across Europe have also seen records shattered.
This extreme heat wave has been especially pronounced in northern Spain and southern France, where temperatures have reached as high as 24.9C in Bilbao, the hottest ever January day in the region. Meanwhile, only Norway, Britain, Ireland, Italy, and the south-east Mediterranean have managed to avoid breaking records.
According to climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, this heat wave can be regarded as the most extreme event in European history. “We can arguably say this is the first time an extreme weather event in Europe is comparable to the most extreme in North America,” he said.
Southern Europe Swelters in Extreme HeatSenior meteorologist at the Met Office, Alex Burkill, agreed that the heat wave was an extreme event, describing it as “almost unheard of” in its widespread nature. He attributed the heat to a warm air mass that developed off the west coast of Africa and traveled north-east across Europe.
However, it’s not just the unusual warmth that’s causing concern. Scott Duncan, a meteorologist, noted that longstanding records have been broken by large margins across several countries. “We observed temperatures across Europe were staggering,” he said. “We had a very warm new year last year, but this blows that out of the water.”
Causes behind the heat wave are difficult to pinpoint, with La Niña and anomalous warmth in sea surfaces likely playing a role. However, climatologist Bill McGuire believes that the warming atmosphere and oceans are ultimately to blame, making it easier for records to be broken.
What’s especially worrying for McGuire is that this is not a surprise. “The most worrying thing about this is that – such is the speed of global heating – it simply isn’t a surprise any longer,” he said. “It is a small glimpse of a future that will see winter reduced to a couple of months of dreary, damp, and mild weather, with little in the way of frost, ice, or snow.”