Europe

Europe spans four major climate types: oceanic along the Atlantic seaboard, Mediterranean across the south, humid continental through the centre and east, and subarctic in northern Scandinavia and the Russian north, with strong alpine modification across the Alps, Carpathians, and other high ranges. The North Atlantic Drift, sometimes called Europe's central heating, keeps the western coasts far milder than their latitude would suggest, while continental influence grows eastward.

January daily means range from about 10–12°C in southern Spain and the Greek islands to below −20°C in the far northeast of Russia. The summer-to-winter swing widens the same way: western Ireland sees only about an 8°C contrast between its coldest and warmest months, while the northern Caspian lowland sees 30–34°C. Annual precipitation is heaviest on the Atlantic margin and on mountain windward slopes; the southeast of the East European Plain receives under 500 mm. Mediterranean summers are hot and dry, while western maritime regions stay wet year-round.

Our archive covers 958 European cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Córdoba, with average highs around 36.2°C, while Yakutsk has the coldest January nights, with average lows near −41.7°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2°C; Europe is the fastest-warming continent on instrumental record.