By Nur Asena Erturk
January 2024 broke the record of being the warmest January in history with 13.14C (55.65F), the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a statement.
This level is 0.70C above the 1991-2020 average for January and 0.12C above the temperature of the previous warmest January in 2020, it said Wednesday.
"This is the eighth month in a row that is the warmest on record for the respective month of the year," it also added.
January 2024 was also wetter than average in most parts of Europe, particularly stormy for the north- and south-western Europe, while Spain, the Maghreb region, southern UK, Ireland, eastern Balkans, and most of Scandinavia were drier than average.
The statement added C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess' evaluation, who said this was a "12-month period of more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial reference period."
She urged to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stop global temperatures increasing.