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Gallery|Weather

Photos: Europe sees spell of record warm winter temps

Ski resorts shut down due to lack of snow as continent records warmest days in January on record.

Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
People enjoy unseasonably warm temperatures on the seafront in Malaga in southern Spain. [Jon Nazca/Reuters]
Published On 4 Jan 20234 Jan 2023
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Record high winter temperatures have swept across parts of Europe into the New Year, bringing calls from climate activists for faster action against global warming while offering short-term respite to governments struggling with high gas prices.

Hundreds of sites have seen temperature records smashed, from Switzerland to Poland and Hungary.

In France, temperatures climbed to nearly 25C (77F) in the southwest on New Year’s Day while normally bustling European ski resorts were deserted due to a lack of snow.

The Weather Service in Germany, where temperatures of more than 20C (68F) were recorded, said such a mild change of the year had not been observed in the country since records began in 1881.

Scientists have not yet analysed the specific ways in which climate change might have affected the recent high temperatures, but January’s warm weather fits into a long-term trend of rising temperatures due to human-caused global warming.

“Winters are becoming warmer in Europe as a result of global temperatures increasing,” said Freja Vamborg, climate scientist at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The record temperatures follow another year of extreme weather that scientists concluded was directly linked to global warming, including deadly heatwaves in Europe and India and flooding in Pakistan.

Temperature spikes can also cause plants to start growing earlier in the year or coax animals out of hibernation prematurely, making them vulnerable to being killed off by later cold snaps.

The French national weather agency, Meteo France, attributed the anomalous temperatures to a mass of warm air moving into Europe from subtropical areas.

It struck during the busy skiing season, leading to cancelled trips and empty slopes. Resorts in the northern Spanish regions of Asturias, Leon and Cantabria have been closed since the Christmas holidays for lack of snow.

On Jahorina mountain above the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, which hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, it should have been one of the busiest weeks of the season. Instead, chairlifts hung suspended above grassy slopes. In one guesthouse, a couple ate dinner alone in a restaurant as the only guests.

A ski jumping event in Zakopane in southern Poland planned for the weekend of January 7-8 was cancelled.

Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
The temperature at the airport in Bilbao, Spain, rose to 25C ((77F), encouraging residents to bask in the sun outside the Guggenheim Museum or walk along the River Nervion. [Vincent West/Reuters]
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Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
People ski on artificial ski slopes in St Corona as warm temperatures hit Austria. [Leonhard Foeger/Reuters]
Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
Unusually mild winter temperatures have offered some short-term relief to European governments that have struggled to secure scarce gas supplies and keep a lid on soaring prices after Russia slashed deliveries of the fuel to Europe. [Leonhard Foeger/Reuters]
Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
"It feels like summer," said one resident of Bilbao, where winters are usually rainy and cold. [Jon Nazca/Reuters]
Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
In this unusual warm January, boys felt the need to cool off in a fountain in Bilbao. [Vincent West/Reuters]
Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
Jahorina mountain near Sarajevo is without skiers as a snow-making machine can't even help to salvage what should be one of the busiest times of the year. [Kirsten Donovan/Reuters]
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Warm winter breaks temperature records in Europe
Some of the world's best athletes skied the slopes of Jahorina mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1984 Olympics, but this ski centre is empty due to record warm temperatures sweeping Europe. [Kirsten Donovan/Reuters]


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