2023 is off to a warm start with record-breaking heat across several European countries on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Temperatures above 20° were observed in many countries, with some new national and local records for the months of December and January in Spain and in eastern parts of Europe.
Ten stations in Ireland had their highest maximum temperature for January on record on New Year’s Day, ranging from between 11 and 72 years, Met Éireann said.
Hundreds of weather stations across Europe recorded their all-time highest daily temperature on December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2023. Some records are listed below.
New Year’s Eve 2022:
- 19.4° in Dresden-Hosterwitz, Germany (previous record was 17.7° in 1961);
- 17.7° in Prague Klementinum, Czech Republic (previous record was 17.4° in 1961).
New Year’s Day 2023:
- 25.1° in Bilbao Aeropuerto, Spain (previous record was 24.4° in 2022);
- 18.6° in Besancon, France (previous record was 16.8° in 1918);
- 18.9° in Warszawa – Okecie, Warsaw, Poland (previous record was 13.8° in 1993);
- 12.6° in Abed on Lolland, Denmark (previous record was 12.4° in 2005).
Meanwhile, some European national meterological services, including in Ireland, Spain, France, Germany and the UK, have announced 2022 as the warmest year on record.
2022 has officially been Ireland’s warmest year on record, with an average shaded air temperature of 10.83°, the national forecaster said in its annual climate statement.
This is 1.28° above the 1961-1990 long-term average (LTA), and 0.06° warmer than the previous warmest year in 2007, Met Éireann said.
Heatwaves were reported at seven stations between August 9-14 lasting for five days at Shannon Airport; Cork Airport; Phoenix Park, Co. Dublin; Dunsany, Co. Meath; and six days in Oak Park, Co. Carlow; Moore Park, Co. Cork; and Casement, Co. Dublin.
Climate change
Observed trends in European mean and extreme temperatures cannot be explained without accounting for anthropogenic – human-influenced – factors, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Temperatures over Europe have warmed at an average rate of about +0.5° per decade between 1991-2021 – the highest rate of any continent and more than twice the global average, the WMO said.
The frequency and intensity of hot extremes have increased in recent decades and are projected to keep rising, and critical thresholds for ecosystems and humans are projected to be exceeded for global warming of 2° and higher, the IPCC said.
Despite La Nina conditions – where cooler-than-average sea-surface temperatures occur in the tropical Pacific – keeping global temperature low, 2022 is still likely to be fifth or sixth warmest year on record globally.
