According to evaluations by the EU climate change service Copernicus, this winter was the second warmest since records began in 1979. In Eastern Europe and parts of north-eastern Europe, temperatures were well above average, Copernicus announced on Wednesday in Reading, England. In addition, it was drier than average in large parts of western and south-eastern Europe and in regions of Russia. The temperatures on the Iberian Peninsula were below average. The warmest winter was therefore 2019/20.
According to Copernicus, February was the fifth warmest worldwide. “Most of Europe had above-average air temperatures, particularly northern Norway and Sweden and the Svalbard (Spitsbergen) region,” the EU service said.
The German Weather Service (DWD) had previously announced that Germany had experienced the twelfth winter that was too warm in a row. The average temperature in winter 2022/23 was 2.9 degrees. Accordingly, it was 1.5 degrees more than in the comparison period from 1991 to 2020.
Weather experts are guided by the meteorological winter, which lasts from December 1st to February 28th. For statistical reasons, too, the researchers calculate their data in whole months.
