On New Year’s Day, 16.2 degrees Celsius was measured in central London. Such high temperatures have never before been measured on the first day of the year in the British capital, according to Met Office.
The Met Office, which is the British response to the Meteorological Institute, explains that the record temperatures are due to winds from the south and southwest, which bring warm winds from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean.
The record breaking warmth over the #NewYear2022 is thanks to a flow of warm subtropical air from the Azores????️
But the weather is set to briefly turn wintry this week with cold winds originating from the Arctic leading to overnight frosts, and snow for some by Tuesday????❄️ pic.twitter.com/Vr9yvtOAvy
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 1, 2022
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The mild winter weather will last a few more days, but by the week a significant change in temperatures is expected. Then cold winds from the Arctic will lead to frost and snow in some places in the British Isles.
On Tuesday, seven degrees are expected in London. It is more normal for this time of year.
May be the warmest New Year’s Eve ever
Warm air currents
The warm air currents from the south of the Atlantic Ocean have caused unusually high temperatures over large parts of Europe in recent days.
– The weather situation has been characterized by high-pressure weather, with fairly calm wind conditions. This has led to high temperatures over Central Europe. Further north in Europe, as here on the Scandinavian Peninsula, we have had more normal temperatures, meteorologist on duty at the Meteorological Institute, Per Egil Haga, tells Dagbladet.
It is not uncommon for southern parts of the continent to experience summer-like temperatures at this time of year. But even in Spain, heat records have been set in the last week.
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Norway does not have statistics on record temperatures around Europe, but here too they have experienced the high temperatures.
– There are temperatures far above normal for large parts of the continent, says Haga.
– Food destroys the globe – and us
– Strange
Several records have been set in Spain recently. In Bilbao, northern Spain, 24.7 degrees Celsius was measured. No such high temperatures have been measured here since they began recording this in 1947.
In Segovia, outside Madrid, it was measured 22.7 degrees, the highest temperature since 1920.
– These high temperatures are not normal. This is something we usually see in April, says Rubén del Campo, a spokesman for the state meteorological agency AEMET, to The Guardian.
He explains the record temperatures with large amounts of hot air over Spain, combined with a high pressure.
– It is normal to see this phenomenon. What is strange is that we see the high temperatures at this time of year.
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Snow problems in the Alps
The high pressure has also moved over France and Italy, and in the Alps several have warned of possible avalanches.
– At the moment, it is measured around 15 degrees in areas over 1600 meters, and no minus degrees have been registered anywhere below 4000 meters. There has not even been frost at night. Temperatures have not fallen below 10 degrees, and it is very unusual, says meteorologist Luca Mercalli to the British newspaper.
On the first New Year’s day, temperatures of 13-15 degrees above normal were reported at several ski resorts.
The ski resorts are also struggling with a lack of snow.
– They can also not produce artificial snow, because it is too hot, Mercalli says.
