The Czech Republic’s weather service said Tuesday that the average temperature for 2023 equalled a 2018 record as the hottest since measurements started almost 250 years ago.
The average temperature in Prague reached 12.8 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit) in 2023, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said.
“With its average temperature, the year 2023 took a shared first place with 2018 out of 249 years of measurement since 1775,” the Institute said.
Last year was 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1991-2020 average and 3.2 degrees warmer than the average for 1775-2014, it added.
The seven warmest years ever recorded in the Czech Republic all fall in the 2014-2023 period, according to the weather service.
Record-setting temperatures last year were part of an unprecedented series of extreme events around the world — including heatwaves, droughts and wildfires that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.
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