Almost half of Europe had a record annual temperatures in 2024

The joint report of the Climate Change Monitoring Service of the European Union for Observation of Earth Copernicus (C3S) and the World Meteorological Organization (MMO) indicates that the number of days with strong, very strong and extreme thermal stress was “the second highest ever recorded”.

On average, according to the report, there were “almost a month of at least strong thermal stress and about 12 tropical nights”, read in the statement of Copernicus, quoted by the agency Lusa.

Last year was the hottest since there are records, as had already informed copernicus, having been exceeded for the first time the barrier of 1.5ºC global warming above the pre-industrial level.

Almost half of Europe registered annual temperatures record in 2024 and 60% of the continent there were more days than the average with at least “strong thermal stress” due to heat, according to Copernicus.

There is thermal stress when the ability of the human body to regulate its temperature is difficult by the environmental conditions, too hot or cold.

The sea surface temperature (TSM) in the European region was equally the highest recorded, 0.7 ° C above average, 1.2 ° C in the case of the Mediterranean, and the same occurred in European lakes.

On forest fires in Portugal, it is said that in September 2024, about 110,000 hectares (1,100 square kilometers) burned in a week, which represents about a quarter of Europe’s annual total area in Europe.

« It is estimated that 42,000 people have been affected by forest fires in Europe, » it reads in the statement.

The European zone with temperatures below zero is becoming smaller, by 2024 the area with less than 90 days of frost was the largest record, while the glaciers of Scandinavia had the highest annual mass loss rate.

Regarding rain, last year Western Europe had one of its periods with the most precipitation since 1950 and there was a record of more flooding in 2024 than that happened since 2013.

Storms and floods caused at least 335 deaths and affected more than 410,000 people.