Global Temperatures in April Matched Warmest on Record: European Climate Group

Temperatures in April were on par with the previous warmest April on record four years ago, with extremely high temperatures in some parts of Europe, Greenland and Antarctica.

Above-average global temperatures meant April was just 0.01 degrees Celsius cooler than April 2016, a difference considered statistically “insignificant” by the Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Global temperatures were 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the average April between 1981 and 2010, the agency said in its monthly report.

Switzerland reported an average April temperature 3 degrees Celsius warmer than the average between 1991 and 2020, and almost 5 degrees Celsius warmer than the average for 1871 to 1900. France reported the country’s third-warmest April since 1900.

The heat was less extreme elsewhere in Europe, with colder conditions over the east of the continent. That followed above-average readings in the late-autumn and winter months.

Temperatures well above the historical average also were found in Siberia, the Alaskan coast, the Arctic Ocean, Mexico, western Australia and parts of Greenland and Antarctica. Canada and some parts of southern and south-eastern Asia were cooler than usual.