17 December 2014: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported that analysis of European temperature data from January through November 2014 confirms that 2014 will almost certainly be Europe’s warmest year on record. A new analysis of European temperature records dating back to the 1500s estimates the January-December annual mean temperature to be .3°C above the previous record set in 2007.

WMO reports that, according to research undertaken by three independent climate science teams from the UK, the Netherlands and Australia to assess the potential link between the likely record-breaking hottest year and global warming, climate change has played a significant role in this warming.

According to WMO, for 2014, 19 European countries are very likely to experience the hottest year on record: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK. In addition, nine of the 10 hottest years ever recorded have occurred since 2000, with climate change leading to hotter and more common hot years.

WMO indicates that scientists simulated possible European weather based on observed global ocean temperatures, as well as a 2014 without human-influenced climate change. It explains that comparing those two ‘worlds,’ scientists showed that the 2014 European temperatures were much more likely in the world with climate change than the one without.

The analysis was conducted through the European Climate Assessment and Dataset project by national weather services and research institutes, was coordinated by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, and is an output of the WMO Regional Climate Center (RCC) – Network for Europe, which engages the region’s 50 National Meteorological and Hydrological Services. [WMO Press Release] [Climate Central Press Release]