BUCHAREST, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Romanian environment ministry has officially declared 2023 as the hottest year on record in the country, with an average temperature of 12.5 degrees Celsius.
This is 2.3 degrees higher than the average in the period 1981-2010, the ministry said.
The years 2012-2023 were also the warmest 12-year period in the history of meteorological measurements in Romania, the National Meteorology Administration said. Additionally, the Copernicus Climate Change Service has said that 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded at European level.
Meanwhile, in Romania records were shattered even during the Christmas season, the ministry of the environment said, with daytime highs reaching 17 degrees Celsius. The weather station in Calafat recorded nearly 21 degrees Celsius, setting a record for the past six years.
A tropical air mass from the southern part of the continent contributed to exceptionally high temperatures for the month of December, said the ministry.
Previously, on Oct. 21, temperature records were broken at 129 stations across Romania.
