Madrid, Temperatures for January have reached an all-time high in a number of nations across Europe.

National records have fallen in eight countries – and regional records in another three.

Warsaw, Poland, saw 18.9C (66F) on Sunday while Bilbao, Spain, was 25.1C – more than 10C above average.

The mild European weather comes as North America faces more severe storms, days after a deadly winter cold snap left more than 60 dead.

Heavy snow and freezing rain have been forecast for parts of the northern Midwest while severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are expected in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, BBC news reported.

But on the European side of the Atlantic, the weather has been balmy for many places at the start of the year.

Temperatures in the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark and Belarus broke national records.

Station records were broken in Germany, France and Ukraine.

In Switzerland, temperatures hit 20C, and the warm weather has affected ski resorts across the Alps which have seen a snow shortage.

It’s not all warm in Europe, though colder temperatures and snow are forecast in parts of Scandinavia and Moscow is expected to drop to -20C by the weekend.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change.

However, warm winter events such as these do not have the same human impact as summer heatwaves, which can result in large numbers of excess deaths.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

Source: Oman News Agency