JANUARY 2024 WAS the warmest January in decades — and the eighth month in a row to break temperature records.

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has confirmed that last month was the warmest January globally of modern records, following a pattern set by each month before it for a consecutive eight months in total.

It was wetter than average in parts of Europe, with storms impacting north and southwestern countries, but drier than average in other areas, including parts of Spain, Ireland, southern UK, eastern Ireland, and most of Scandinavia.

The global average temperature for the past twelve months (February 2023 to January 2024) is also the highest on record at 0.64°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.52°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service Samantha Burgess said: “2024 starts with another record-breaking month – not only is it the warmest January on record but we have also just experienced a 12-month period of more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial reference period.”

“Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing.”

Last month, Copernicus revealed that 2023 was the hottest year of modern records, replacing 2016, which was previously the hottest year of modern records going back to 1850.

The rate of increase in global average temperature is fast approaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark above pre-industrial levels, a critical limit beyond which devastating climate impacts are expected to escalate significantly if the temperature rise is sustained.