It might be freezing in Britain but on the sun-kissed holiday island of Tenerife they have recorded the highest temperature ever for December with a scorching 28C.
The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) confirmed the record on Sunday, writing on X: “Santa Cruz de Tenerife broke its December maximum temperature record on the 1st: 28.6C. This exceeds the previous record, set in 2009, in a series that spans more than a century.”
Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife and the second-largest city in the Canary Islands. It has a population of over 200,000 people.
According to the local observatory, which has been monitoring weather conditions since 1920, this new record surpasses the previous December high of 28.2C, set on Christmas Day in 2009, by 0.4C.
Canarian Weekly reports the new record-breaking temperature was first noted by Ansgar Seyfferth, a statistics professor at the University of Alcalá de Henares.
Local media said Professor Seyfferth highlighted the new historic temperature on his own X account, writing that “the historic Santa Cruz de Tenerife Observatory, with data dating back to 1920, started December by breaking its previous Christmas Day record from 2009 by four-tenths of a degree.”
Despite the record-breaking temperature, the urban area of Santa Cruz was not the hottest place on the archipelago on December 1, La Aldea de San Nicolás, La Graciosa, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria all had higher temperatures, with some exceeding 30C.
Professor Seyfferth said that the unusual climate conditions were mirrored as far north as Norway, which also experienced unseasonal heat, with the town of Tafjord recording a record 18.7C.
In Britain too, conditions were warmer than normal with some parts of the country enjoying 16C on Sunday with mild weather arriving after a chilly end to November.
Balmy weather is set to continue in the UK until Friday with 14C to 15C in most parts, however come the weekend the temperature is set to fall once more to a cold 6C or 7C even at midday on Saturday and Sunday.
Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued for much of the country as well in the coming days as stormy conditions head our way from the Atlantic.