Extreme heat in Europe - Several records were broken in January

Unusual heat in the middle of winter has hit Europe. Last week, thousands of heat records were broken in Europe, with a thousand recorded in Germany.

At least eight countries experienced the hottest January on record, including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia, according to Watchman.

– We can consider this event the most extreme in European history, says climatologist Maximiliano Herrera to the Guardian and continues:

– This is the first time that an extreme weather event has, in terms of extreme heat, been comparable to the extreme we have seen in North America.

The temperature in northern Spain and southern France was 24.9 degrees. In the Czech Republic, where the temperature is usually around three degrees at this time of year, it was 19.6 degrees at the weekend.

– We had a very warm last year, but this one beats it by a horse length. Scott Duncan, a meteorologist in London, told the Guardian: We’ve seen long-standing records broken by large margins in many countries.

It’s hard to say what caused the early heat wave, Scott Duncan says, but he thinks higher sea surface temperatures and La Niña weather may play a role.

ENSO, El Nino – Southern Oscillation, is the name given to the natural atmospheric and oceanic temperature fluctuations that occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Fluctuations affect, among other things, hurricanes, typhoons, monsoons, cloud formation, and drying out of the ocean-surrounding continents.

The ENSO has a normal state, a phase in which the water becomes warmer than normal (El Nino) and a phase in which the water becomes cooler than normal (La Niña).

The La Niña phenomenon that is occurring now is expected to peak during the Southern Hemisphere spring and then decline and disappear shortly after the end of the year.

Sources: SMHI, Stockholm University. Met Office

Lack of snow in several places in Europe

For many skiers, winter in Europe has been a major disappointment so far.

In Austria, the last time it snowed in the resorts around Salzburg was a month ago BBC. In Chamonix, France, snow cannons are idle because there is too little water to run them.

There is also a significant lack of snowfall in many areas of the Swiss Alps. On New Year’s Day, the highest temperature recorded so far in January was recorded on the northern side of the Swiss Alps.

Some Swiss resorts have chosen to open summer cycling routes rather than trying to offer winter sports activities. Others have had to close their ski lifts indefinitely. This week the Splügen ski resort chose to close the skiing, due to the fact that it is not possible to ski in the snow.

– It’s really very humid, as it usually is in the spring. To be able to ski, the snow must hold together. Now there is simply too much water, says Hacher Bernet, director of the Splügen ski resort, it’s impossible BBC.

In Sweden, two heat records were also broken in January, says Maria Stark, meteorologist at SMHI. On January 1, 11.1° was measured in Lund and 10.8° in Malmö, which is 0.2° higher than the previous record for the cities.

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