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 averages 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 roughly a 10°C contrast between seasons, while the Caspian basin can exceed 40°C. Annual precipitation is heaviest on the Atlantic margin and on mountain windward slopes; large parts of the East European Plain receive only 250–500 mm. Mediterranean summers are hot and dry, while western maritime regions stay wet year-round.

Our archive covers 3 European cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Moscow, around 23.1°C, while Moscow records the coldest January nights near −12.1°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2.2°C — Europe is the fastest-warming continent on instrumental record.