Issued Monday 22nd April 2024
Europe (From Copernicus Climate Change Service and World Meteorological Organization)
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), together with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), today release the 2023 European State of the Climate report (ESOTC 2023). This provides details of temperature, extreme events and climate impacts for Europe in 2023.
In 2023, the impacts of climate change continued to be seen across Europe, with millions of people impacted by extreme weather events, making the development of mitigation and adaptation measurements a priority. To achieve this, understanding climate trends is vital.
Carlo Buontempo, C3S Director, comments: “In 2023, Europe witnessed the largest wildfire ever recorded, one of the wettest years, severe marine heatwaves and widespread devastating flooding. Temperatures continue to increase, making our data ever more vital in preparing for the impacts of climate change.”
Figure 1. Ranking of the annual average surface air temperatures in 2023. Data source: E-OBS. Credit: C3S/ECMWF/KNMI. Figure 2. Ranking of the annual average sea surface temperatures in 2023. Data source: ESA SST CCI Analysis v3.0. Credit: ESACCI/EOCIS/UKMCAS and C3S/ECMWF.
Key Findings for Europe include:
- 2023 was the joint warmest or second warmest year on record depending on the dataset, 2.48–2.58°C above the pre-industrial level.
- The three warmest years on record for Europe have all occurred since 2020, and the ten warmest since 2007.
- Europe is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average rate.
- The number of adverse health impacts related to extreme weather and climate events is rising.
- Europe was around 7% wetter than average (Figure 3). Depending on the dataset, it was the wettest or third wettest year on record.
- During 2023, one third of the European river network saw river flows exceeding the ‘high’ flood threshold, and 16% exceeding the ‘severe’ flood threshold.
- The average sea-surface temperature (SST) for the ocean across Europe was the warmest on record. Parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean saw their highest annual average SST on record (Figure 2).
- In June, the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland and around the United Kingdom was impacted by a marine heatwave that was classified as ‘extreme’ and in some areas ‘beyond extreme’, with sea surface temperatures as much as 5°C above average (Figure 6).
Figure 3. Annual precipitation anomalies (%) in 2023. Data source: ERA5. Credit: C3S/ECMW
Read the full report here
Ireland
The impacts of climate change were also evident in Ireland in 2023. Met Éireann data showed, at the end of 2023, that Ireland had its warmest year on record for the second year running since records began in 1900*. It was also one of the wettest years on record (since 1941) which saw numerous flooding episodes across the country, especially during the second half of the year. The wet conditions in Ireland have continued into 2024 with waterlogged soils causing major problems for farmers.
Met Éireann Head of Climate Services Keith Lambkin says “Ireland has seen a remarkable year with rainfall and warming at unprecedented levels at times. These record-breaking extremes have knock-on consequences to much of society. This is why Met Éireann are continually developing tailored climate information, with our many partners, to help Ireland better plan and adapt to our changing climate.”
Key Findings for Ireland include:
- 2023 was the warmest year on record for Ireland (record length 124 years) and the first time the annual mean temperature breached 11 °C (Figure 4).
- 2023’s mean temperature in Ireland was 11.20 °C, which is 1.65°C above the 1961-1990 LTA and 0.35 °C warmer than 2022 the previous warmest year.
- June 2023 was the warmest June on record.
- 2023 was provisionally the third wettest year on record (record length 83 years) behind 2015 and 2009 (Figure 5).
- March 2023 was the wettest March on record and July 2023 was the wettest July on record.
Figure 4. Island of Ireland annual average temperature anomalies (1961-1990 Long-Term Average) 1900 to 2023: 2023 average shaded air temperature in Ireland is provisionally 11.20°C which is 1.65°C above the 1961-1990 LTA
Figure 5. Provisional monthly gridded 2023 rainfall anomalies (% of 1981-2010) together with monthly rainfall totals
One influencing factor to Ireland having such a warm and wet 2023 were the record high SSTs across the North Atlantic (Figure 2). This contributed to the increase in both the mean temperatures and moisture content in the atmosphere over Ireland.
Along with this came a severe marine heatwave to the west of Ireland during the month of June (figure 6), as highlighted in the Met Éireann news article published at the end of June 2023.
Figure 6. (Left) Daily sea surface temperature anomalies (°C) in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean during 2023 (thick red), and previous years since 1980 (reds and blues). The bounding box used for the time series is outlined with a dashed line in the map. (Right) Daily sea surface temperature anomalies (°C) on 21 June 2023. Data source: ESA SST CCI Analysis v3.0. Credit: ESACCI/EOCIS/UKMCAS and C3S/ECMWF.
*Read more about the State of the Irish Climate 2023 here.