A winter heatwave broke multiple national temperature records across Europe over the New Year’s weekend, alarming meteorologists and forcing some ski resorts to close owing to a lack of snow.
Several European countries saw record-breaking January temperatures, with at least seven nations setting new national records.
For instance, On January 1, temperatures in the Polish capital of Warsaw reached 18.9 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), which is more than 5 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous record set thirty years earlier. Thesame day, temperatures in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao reached 24.9 degrees Celsius, which is comparable to early July temperatures. Switzerland also recorded a temperature of 20 degrees.
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Some low-altitude ski resorts in the French Pyrenees and northern Alps had to close a few weeks after opening due to warm weather and low snowfall.
The Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania were among the European nations that recorded their hottest days ever.
Also breaking local records were France, Germany, and Ukraine.
A lot of the evening low temperatures were comparable to summer, according to meteorologists and climatologists, who expressed anxiety over the exceptionally mild winter weather, saying there were “too many records to count.”
Story was adapted from CNBC.
