Unseasonably warm Christmas weather shatters European records in January

Malta was not alone in enjoying its warm spell over the Christmas holidays with sunny days running into the new year.

While the first rains fell in the early morning of 4 January, the 18-degree weather is expected to persist throughout the week.

But elsewhere in Europe, an exceptionally strong wintertime heat dome has provided unprecedented warmth for January.

Temperatures soared 10-20 degrees Celsius from France to western Russia, showing once again how climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extraordinary weather events.

On New Year’s Day, at least seven countries saw their warmest January weather on record as temperatures surged to springtime levels: Latvia hit 11.1 degrees Celsius, Denmark 12.6, Lithuania 14.6, Belarus 16.4, the Netherlands 16.9, Poland 19, and the Czech Republic 19.6.

Climatologists on Twitter called the event one of the most extreme ever in European history. Guillaume Séchet, a broadcast meteorologist in France, said Sunday was one of the most incredible days in Europe’s climate history.

Scott Duncan, a meteorologist based in London, said the “intensity and extent of warmth in Europe right now is hard to comprehend.”

Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the UK Met Office, said the Warsaw record was particularly striking. “It has taken the old record and increased it by more than 5°C. That’s exceptional. It was exceptional in the UK in July when the record was broken by almost 2°C. To do it by 5°C is almost unheard of.”

Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, told The Times of London that such weather records had been made more likely by human-caused climate change, “just as climate change is now making every heatwave more likely and hotter.”

As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue rising, heatwaves like these will become increasingly common and severe, she added.

Monday, the day after New Year’s Day, saw more monthly and daily records set in the eastern half of Europe and Germany.

Climate observers Severe Weather Europe noted historically warmer weather in Spain and France during Christmas with nearly 100 automatic weather stations in southern France recording 20°C or above. “Nine weather stations are also above 23°C, which is particularly impressive for the winter season. Something atypical for Christmas, we must say, despite the lack of cold weather in recent years. At least 21 monthly records have been shattered, including in cities Nimes, Argeliers, and a few others. Eastern Spain was also very warm, even warmer than southern France. Weather stations Alcoy, Xativa, Velez Malaga, and Tarragona recorded more than 25°C.”