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Weather & Science

Europe’s Hottest New Year’s Day Is Another Climate Warning

Temperatures in Europe in January were 2.2C higher than the 30-year average, according to the European Earth observation satellite.

A patch of snow used as a children's training ski slope in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. 

A patch of snow used as a children's training ski slope in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. 

Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
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A winter heat wave over most of the northern hemisphere made New Year’s day the hottest on record for Europe, with temperatures on the snowless hills of Austria higher than those across North Africa and Spain. 

This January was 2.2C hotter in Europe than the 1991-2020 average, according to Copernicus, the European Earth observation agency. The Balkans, eastern Europe, Finland, north-western Russia and the Svalbard region registered the continent’s highest temperatures above the seasonal average.