Devastating bushfires have continued to ravage Australia, with every state hitting temperatures of 40C this week. While bushfires have always struck parts of the country, this year’s have spread further east than normal and burned an area 12 times larger than the past few years combined.
December 2019’s weather across much of Europe was unprecedented too, as unseasonable warmth was injected into northern and eastern portions in particular. Coastal Norway and Sweden had temperatures consecutively approaching 10C last week, while in the north-west Highlands of Scotland the mercury climbed to 16.3C on Saturday night.
Moscow had its warmest December since temperature records began about 140 years ago. Temperatures rose to 5.4C on the 18th and 6.2C on the 22nd, compared with an average maximum temperature of -3C for this time of year. The lack of snow on the streets meant that officials had to import fake snow to decorate a display in its city centre.
However, it’s not been warm everywhere. Delhi has been reeling from its coldest day since 1901, amid thick blanket fog. Maximum temperatures reached only 9.4C, which was about 10C below normal, with overnight minimum temperatures dropping close to freezing.
