Weather tracker: Record 22.9C at night makes Iceland warmest place in Europe

Record-breaking warmth was observed in Iceland on Monday night as temperatures reached 22.9C at a site on the Ólafsfjarðarvegur Road near Sauðanes in the far north.

Other weather stations in the region recorded temperatures in the high teens and low 20s celsius, making it the warmest place in Europe that night and setting a world record for the warmest November night above 60° latitude. These temperatures are typically 10-15C warmer than July averages.

They were caused by a warm and moist southwesterly air mass originating from the Azores which interacted with the local topography in a process called the Föhn effect. During this process, the air rose over high ground and lost moisture on the south-facing windward slopes. Then, as it descended down the north-facing leeward slopes, the air warmed further, resulting in the record-breaking highs.

Meanwhile, torrential rain across Colombia has led to widespread flooding, landslides, and infrastructure damage this past week. Damage from heavy rainfall has been recorded across 27 of the country’s 32 departments, and the president declared a nationwide state of emergency last weekend.

Across the Pacific coast and Andean region, the rain has displaced 90,000 people, with homes in dozens of communities being submerged under rising floodwaters. Authorities in the Santander department reported one death, and two people were injured after a stream overflowed.

Colombia’s westernmost department, Chocó, has been hit especially hard, with the lower Río Atrato inundating entire communities of Afro-Colombian people. Official reports estimate flooding has affected 85% of the department, displacing more than 50,000 families across 25 municipalities.

Four storms developed simultaneously across the west Pacific this week. It is the first time this has occurred in a November month since 1951, according to Japan’s meteorological agency. By this weekend, this means the Philippines will have been affected by six typhoons in a month. The United Nations assessment for the Philippines has said 207,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed due to extreme weather, and nearly 700,000 people were seeking temporary shelter.