Europe is generally characterized by atemperate climate. Most ofWestern Europe has anoceanic climate, in theKöppen climate classification, featuring cool to warm summers and cool winters with frequent overcast skies.Southern Europe has a distinctivelyMediterranean climate, which features warm to hot, dry summers and cool to mild winters and frequent sunny skies. Central-eastern Europe is classified as having ahumid continental climate, which features warm to hot summers and cold winters.
The coastal lowlands of theMediterranean Basin have more of a wetwinter and drysummer season pattern, the winter season extends from October to February while the summer season is mainly noticeable in the dry months where precipitation can, in some years, become extremely scarce. A very small area in the continent features thedesert climate which exists in the south-eastern coasts ofSpain making them the only places in Europe that have an arid climate.
The climate of westernEurope is strongly conditioned by theGulf Stream, which keeps mild air (for the latitude) over Northwestern Europe in the winter months, especially in Ireland, the United Kingdom and coastal Norway. In terms of monthly sunshine averages, much of temperate Europe sees considerably less than the northernUnited States and eastern Asia.
The climate of Western Europe is milder in comparison to other areas of the same latitude around the globe due to the influence of theGulf Stream. Western Europe is at the same latitude as parts ofCanada andRussia, thus solar insulation is weak much of the year. Mediterranean waters are not as deep as the large oceans, allowing it to become a heat storage tempering winters along its coastlines, but because theAtlantic Ocean is largely influenced by the gulf stream, this effect is reduced when compared to that of the Atlantic waters.[1] The Gulf Stream is nicknamed "Europe's central heating", because it makes Europe's climate warmer and wetter than it would otherwise be.
Compared to areas located in the higher middle latitudes, parts of western Europe have milder winters and higher annual temperatures (though summers are cooler than locations at the same latitude).Berlin,Germany;Calgary,Canada; andIrkutsk, in the Asian part ofRussia, lie on around the same latitude; January temperatures in Berlin average around 8 °C (15 °F) higher than those in Calgary (although Calgary sits 1200m higher in altitude), and they are almost 22 °C (40 °F) higher than average temperatures in Irkutsk.[1]
This difference is even larger on the northern part of the continent. The January average inBrønnøysund, Norway,[2] is almost 15 °C warmer than the January average inNome, Alaska,[3] both towns are situated upwind on the west coast of the continents at 65°N, and as much as 42 °C warmer than the January average inYakutsk which is actually slightly further south.
Within mainland Spain, the arid climate appears predominantly inAlmería.[4] This climate extends to theAndarax andAlmanzora river valleys, thePunta Entinas-Sabinar Natural Park and theCabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, which are also known for having also ahot desert climate (Köppen:BWh) and ahot semi-desert climate (Köppen:BSh), with a precipitation amount of 156 mm (6.1 in) and an average temperature of 19.1 °C (66 °F)[5] which is reportedly the driest place inEurope.[6][7][8]
Most of Europe sees seasonal temperatures consistent with temperate climates in other parts of the world, though summers north of the Mediterranean Sea are cooler than most temperate climates experience in summer (for example summers in the temperate sector of the northernUnited States are much hotter in summer than Europe).[citation needed] Among the cities with a population over 100,000 people in Europe, the coldest winters are mostly found inRussia, with daily highs in winter averaging 0 °C (32 °F),[9] while the mildest winters in the continent are in southernPortugal, southernSpain, inSicily (Italy) and southernGreek islands such asCrete,Rhodes,Karpathos andKasos.[citation needed]
The hottest summers on the continent occur in cities and towns in the interior of southern Spain, located within theGuadalquivir Valley.[10] Average highs in July and August varies from 36 °C (97 °F) in the city ofSeville to above 37 °C (99 °F) inCórdoba and up to 39 °C (102 °F) inMontoro,[11] also in the province ofCórdoba.[12][13]
The highest extreme temperatures have been recorded inSyracuse, Italy, with 48.8 °C (119.8 °F).[14]Athens andElefsina, Greece, with 48.0 °C (118.4 °F)[15]
Heat waves across the continent can be deadly and consequential events, capable of contracting theEuropean economy by 0.3–0.5%.[16] In the summer of 2003, there was asevere heatwave across Europe, considered the warmest summer on the continent since 1540. The heat and drought killed 72,210 people across 15 countries, making it the sixth deadliestdisaster worldwide in the first two decades of the 21st century. Most of the deaths occurred in Italy and France. Several nationwide temperature records were broken during the heatwave, with a peak temperature of 44.1 °C (111.4 °F) recorded in France on August 12.[17][18][19]
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Effects on European countries include warmer weather and increasing frequency and intensity ofextreme weather such asheat waves, bringinghealth risks and effects on ecosystems. European countries are major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, although theEuropean Union and governments of several countries have outlined plans to implementclimate change mitigation and anenergy transition in the 21st century, theEuropean Green Deal being one of these.
Public opinion in Europe shows concern about climate change; in theEuropean Investment Bank's Climate Survey of 2020, 90% of Europeans believe their children will experience the effects of climate change in their daily lives.[24]Climate change activism andbusinesses shifting their practices has taken place in Europe.
The Netherlands has the highest average number of recorded tornadoes per area of any country in the world (more than 20, or 0.0005 per km2), annually), followed by the UK (around 33, or 0.0001 per km2), per year),[25][26] but most are small and cause minor damage. In absolute number of events, ignoring area, the UK experiences more tornadoes than any other European country, excludingwaterspouts.[27] Europe uses its own tornado scale, known as theTORRO scale, which ranges from a T0 for extremely weak tornadoes to T11 for the most powerful known tornadoes.[28]
Atlantic hurricanes regularly affectEurope after they enter the midlatitudes and transition into anextratropical cyclone. AsPost-tropical cyclones, they are typically more intense than otherEuropean windstorms that affect the continent. In September 1961, formerHurricane Debbie produced wind gusts of 181 km/h (113 mph) atMalin Head inIreland, which was the highest-ever wind gust on the island.[29][30] On two occasions, atropical orsubtropical cyclone madelandfall on the European mainland. In October 2005,Tropical Depression Vince hit southern Spain, producing wind gusts as strong as 77 km/h (48 mph) inRota, Cádiz, while rainfall reached 84 mm (3.3 in) inCórdoba Province.[31] In September 2020,Subtropical Storm Alpha struck Portugal, causing one death, and damage estimated at €20 million (US$24.2 million).[32][33] Occasionally,tropical-like cyclones in the Mediterranean affect southern Europe. In September 2020 while Alpha was approaching Portugal,Cyclone Ianos struckGreece, producing wind gusts of 195 km/h (121 mph), and damage estimated at €85 million (U$100 million).[34][35] In September 2023, rains fromStorm Daniel caused severe flooding across Greece, killing 17 people and leaving severe damage estimated at €2 billion (US$2.17 billion).[36][37]
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