CNN
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The year is just beginning, but Europe has already broken an alarming number of weather records as extreme heat spread across the continent.
According to climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks temperature extremes around the world, at least eight European countries set record January temperatures on New Year’s Day. Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, Poland, Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania, Denmark and Latvia. .
Herrera told CNN it was “the most extreme heat wave in European history” based on how much above normal temperatures were.
Cities that are often covered in snow instead temperature spike to levels normally seen in the summer. “The real ‘monster’ part of this warm period was from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1,” Herrera told CNN.
On January 1, Liechtenstein’s capital, Vaduz, hit a record high of 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), the Czech town of Jawornik hit 19.6 degrees Celsius (67.3 degrees Fahrenheit), and the Polish village of Jodlownik hit 19 degrees Celsius. recorded the maximum temperature of degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
Ukraine also recorded the highest temperature outside of Crimea in January.
The current weather phenomenon is even more extreme than the heatwave, given how much warmer it has been than normal. scorched much of Europe Last summer, Herrera said. The heat is not only unusually intense, but spreads over a wide area, from the border of Europe and Asia to northern Spain.
“For the first time, a heatwave in Europe could rival the most intense heatwave ever recorded in North America,” Herrera said.
The unusually hot weather was driven by warm air masses from the west coast of Africa, which migrated across Europe and brought unseasonably warm weather, the Met Office said.
Meteorologists say it’s too early to confidently attribute the extreme heat to climate change, but scientists warn that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more intense. I’m here.
“Rising average global temperatures caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels make it more likely that temperature records will be broken,” said Rebecca Oakes, a climate scientist at the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The record-breaking temperatures surprised meteorologists, but they also helped mitigate the energy crisis that hit the continent.
European natural gas prices have skyrocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin restricted supplies to the continent and many countries cut their imports from Russia. But this unprecedented wave of warming meant a decline in gas demand, with natural gas prices falling to their lowest levels since Russia began its invasion last February, according to Refinitiv data.
In Ukraine, the unseasonably warm weather also helped.
“Because of the warm weather, [energy] Consumption in Ukraine is declining,” said Ukrenergo, the country’s state power company. announced on TuesdayAnton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian government, said: murmured On New Year’s Day: “Putin wanted to freeze Ukraine’s allies and beat Ukraine. Instead, even the weather is on our side.”
But while warmer weather may offer some relief, meteorologists warn that the spell could offer a worrying glimpse into the future.
Europe has entered “uncharted territory,” Herrera said. “It’s one thing for him to beat even 100-year-old records by several orders of magnitude, but it’s another thing to beat about 5,000 records in two days, sometimes at temperatures above 5 degrees Celsius. There is a difference.”
