Heat records have been broken in several places in Europe in recent days, according to British reports The Guardian.
As many as eight countries in Europe have already had their hottest January day ever.
In both Poland and the Czech Republic, where the mercury exceeded 19 degrees on January 1, the temperature was 18 degrees higher than the average temperature for the month.
Denmark, Poland, Belarus, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Latvia all set heat records in January.
Numerous local heat records have also been set further south in Europe. In southern France and northern Spain, summer temperatures were regular, with 24.9 degrees measured in the Spanish city of Bilbao.
Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera studies extreme temperatures. For The Guardian, he refers to the records as the most extreme weather event in European history.
– It’s like the heatwave in Britain in July, only spread over a much wider area, he told the paper.
