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2024 will break the extreme temperature records set in 2023

The elements that conspired to make 2023 so unusually warm are likely to push the dial even further in 2024, with meteorologists already warning about extreme heat

By James Dinneen

27 December 2023

The ruins of San Roque church in Villanueva, normally submerged partially in the waters of the Ebro reservoir, in the northern province of Cantabria, are now visible entirely on solid ground due to the ongoing drought that has caused the reservoir to be at 32.72% of its capacity, on August 8, 2023. The Iberian Peninsula is bearing the brunt of climate change in Europe, witnessing increasingly intense heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. The Spanish met office (AEMET) issued maximum red alerts for parts of Andalusia in the south, the Madrid region in the centre and the Basque Country in the far north. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA / AFP) (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images) — An August drought in Villanueva, Spain, was one of many extreme weather events in 2023
ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images

THE past year was the hottest on record, but 2023 is unlikely to hold that dubious honour for long. 2024 is expected to be even hotter, as the El Niño climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean reaches its full strength on top of warming driven by greenhouse gases. “We’ve never had a big El Niño like this on the background of global warming,” says Adam Scaife at the Met Office, the UK’s national…

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