January Temperature Records Broken Across Europe

Eight countries in Europe recorded all-time high temperature records for January on New Year’s Day this year. The following data draws from the visualization of meteorologist Scott Duncan and reports by the BBC.

Thousands of local measuring stations across the continent saw peak temperatures on January 1. These included locations in Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belarus, The Czech Republic, Spain, Lithuania and Latvia. Peak records usually increase by a few tenths of a centigrade. However, this year Warsaw saw a four degree rise compared to the month’s prior record, hitting 18.9°C.

The BBC reports that even more extreme temperatures were seen in Bilbao, northern Spain, which reached 25.1°C on Sunday - a 10 degree jump from the month's usual average. Meanwhile, Liechtenstein’s capital of Vaduz hit 20°C and the Czech Republic town of Javornik saw highs of 19.6°C.