Italy sets new Europe temperature record, 48.8°C confirmed by WMO

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has officially announced a new record high temperature for mainland Europe. On August 11, 2021, the temperature in Italy reached a scorching 48.8°C (119.8°F). The findings were published in the International Journal of Climatology.

Italy sets new Europe temperature record

An automatic weather station in Syracuse, a city on the Italian island of Sicily, recorded this temperature, which a group of international weather scientists confirmed. The WMO, which also includes parts of Asia and Greenland in its Europe region, keeps records for both the whole region and just mainland Europe.

Before this, the highest temperature recorded in mainland Europe was 48.0°C (118.4°F) in the Greek cities of Athens and Elefsina on July 10, 1977. The creators based this record on official government data and included it in the WMO Archive of Global Weather and Climate Extremes when they created the archive in 2007. However, unlike the recent Italian temperature, this record wasn’t independently verified by the WMO.

“The extremes presented before the WMO for adjudication are ‘snapshots’ of our current climate. It is possible, indeed likely, that greater extremes will occur across Europe in the future.  "When we make such observations, we will form new WMO evaluation committees to adjudicate such observations as extremes," says Prof. Randall Cerveny, Rapporteur of Climate and Weather Extremes for WMO.

“Most investigations – like this one – are lengthy procedures because of the meticulous care that the WMO undertakes in certifying weather observations. "Such painstaking evaluation provides the critical confidence that we are properly measuring our global records of temperatures. Beyond that, this investigation demonstrates the alarming tendency for specific regions of the world to continue setting high temperature records," said Prof. Cerveny.

WMO archives and publishes extreme weather records

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) often publishes its evaluations in peer-reviewed journals. These evaluations are then included on the official website for the Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes. This archive keeps records of the world’s highest and lowest temperatures, rainfall, heaviest hailstone, longest dry period, maximum gust of wind, longest lightning flash, and weather-related deaths.

Currently, the WMO’s team of experts is conducting several investigations. One of these is looking into whether Tropical Cyclone Freddy set a new record last year as the longest-lasting tropical cyclone.

These newly judged records provide a reliable standard for comparing extreme records. The WMO uses them in their annual State of the Climate reports, which examine global and regional scales.

In-depth investigation

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) committee carried out a detailed investigation into the record-breaking temperature in Italy. They thoroughly analyzed all available data and even sent the temperature sensor from Sicily to the National Institute of Metrological Research (INRiIM) in Italy for testing. The sensor, along with its datalogger and solar shield, were tested in the same setup as when the extreme temperature was recorded. All testing procedures followed WMO standards and practices.

In addition, the committee discovered that a very strong upper-level ridge was present over the region in August 2021, when they recorded the extreme temperature. Data from reanalyses and other nearby sites agreed with the extreme temperature observation. The committee unanimously agreed that the 48.8°C observation was valid.

Routledge Publishing will publish an upcoming book by Randy Cerveny titled “Judging Extreme Weather: Climate Science in Action,” in which more information about the workings of the WMO Extremes Archive and past evaluations will be available.

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