The temperature of 48.8 degrees measured in Sicily in 2021 has been officially recognized as a heat record for continental Europe. International experts have checked measuring devices and circumstances and confirmed them as correct, the World Weather Organization (WMO) reported on Tuesday in Geneva.
The temperature was recorded by an automatic weather station in Syracuse on the Italian island of Sicily on August 11, 2021. At that time, Central Europe was experiencing a heat wave. The results of the study were published in the specialist journal “International Journal of Climatology”.
Before that, the record was in Greece: On July 10, 1977, 48.0 degrees were measured in Athens and Elefsina (Eleusis). However, temperature records were not verified by independent experts at the time, the WMO reported.
The WMO is now examining numerous measurements that suggest records, including maximum and minimum temperatures, rainfall, hail, droughts, gusts of wind or lightning. According to WMO information, it is currently being examined whether Cyclone Freddy last year was the longest cyclone ever. It formed in the Pacific, traveled thousands of kilometers westward and caused severe damage in southern East Africa, including Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique.
