Abnormal January: 8 European countries set new temperature records

The beginning of January, and winter does not think to come into its own. Europe was swept by a wave of warm air, temperature records were set in eight countries, and falling demand for gas reduced its cost to pre-war levels.

As writes Air Force, even in Poland, where frost and snow are usually at this time, the thermometer rose last Sunday to + 19 ° С. And in Bilbao (Spain), the thermometer showed + 25 ° C, ten degrees higher than the average temperature on January 1.

Temperature records were broken in Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark. Three more countries recorded regional records: France, Germany and Ukraine. On the slopes of the Alpine ski resorts, green grass breaks through instead of snow.

As a rule, temperature records, which are recorded quite often, exceed the previous one literally by tenths of a degree. In the same year, the situation is different: in Warsaw, for example, the air temperature on the first day of the new year was 4 degrees higher than the previous record, and in Belarus (+16.4 ° C) – 4.5 degrees higher than the previously set record.

France, Britain, Spain and Ireland called the past 2022 the hottest year in history. At the same time, in Britain, only December “knocked out” of the list of the warmest months – for a whole week there was snow and there was a slight frost, even in southern England.

Scientists note that waves of warm / hot weather are becoming longer and more noticeable due to human influence on the climate. The heat in winter in Europe is, of course, profitable and pleasant, but the anomalous summer heat destroys crops and kills people.

True, it is far from warm everywhere now. In Russia and Scandinavia, meteorologists warn of coming frosts down to -20°C and snowfalls.

And in Greece at Christmas and New Year was just spring weather. High seasonal maximum temperatures were fixed during Christmas noon hours, which were 7°C above the average for the period 2010-2020.

Due to the warm abnormal weather in many European countries, the demand for blue fuel fell, which significantly reduced the cost. On Wednesday, the price of a cubic meter on the London Stock Exchange, for the first time since November 2021, fell below $750 per thousand cubic meters, and on the TTF hub in the Netherlands – to $733.

Gas prices began to decline sharply from the second week of December 2022, easing fears of a prolonged crisis that could hurt the European economy. If prices remain low, this will help reduce inflation throughout Europe.

Gas storages in Europe are almost 84% full, and low demand over the holidays even allowed some of the gas to be returned to storage. This buffer will help Europe weather any cold snap until the end of the winter of 2022-2023 and reduce the shortage of supplies from Russia.

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