The three-month period from December 2019 to February 2020 was the warmest winter ever recorded in Europe, according to the Copernicus climate-change service, C3S.
With mild temperatures persisting in Europe, particularly in the north and east of the continent, winter was 3.4°C warmer than the average for 1981-2010, according to C3S, which is an EU information service. It was 1.4°C hotter than the previous warmest winter, 2015-2016.
Last month was the world’s second warmest February ever. In Europe, the month was 3.9°C warmer than the average for 1981-2010, and 0. 8°C above the global average.
C3S Director Carlo Buontempo is quoted as saying in a press release that this type of phenomenon has been made more extreme by the climate-change trend.
However, while it was disconcerting to see such a warm winter, that did not represent a climate trend as such, Buontempo cautioned. Seasonal temperatures, especially outside the tropics, varied considerably from one year to the next, he explained.
The Brussels Times
