Weather tracker: January temperatures smash records across Europe

Abnormally high temperatures caused by orientation of high and low pressure, but also point to effects of climate change

Exceptionally high temperatures affected large parts of Europe last week, with longstanding records across the central and western regions broken in a number of locations. The abnormally high temperatures developed due to the orientation of high and low pressure across the continent, which helped push very mild air in from the south-west. Although the pressure pattern was not particularly unusual, the temperatures were unprecedented in many places, and scientists are certain that they would not have been achieved without the influence of human-induced climate change.

Temperatures peaked at 18.9C in Warsaw, Poland, on New Year's Day, smashing the previous record set in 1993 for the month of January by an astonishing 5C. In Bilbao, Spain, 25.1C was recorded, more than 10C above the seasonal average, which is typically around 14C.