Czech Republic reports warmest New Year's Day on record

If temperatures on New Year's Day are any indication, central Europe can expect a hot 2022. The Czech Republic reported the warmest January 1 in recorded history yesterday, and temperature records fell at a majority of measuring stations throughout the country.

A high of 15.7 degrees Celsius was measured at the Kopisty measuring station in the Most region, topping the previous New Year's Day record of 14.5 degrees in Valašské Meziříčí back in 1936.

Among the 160 measuring stations in the Czech Republic, more than three-quarters of them (124) reported record temperatures for January 1, according to Czech Hydrometeorological Institute spokesperson Petra Sýkorová.

New Year's Eve also saw unseasonably warm temperatures throughout the Czech Republic, with more than half of the country's measuring stations reporting record highs. A maximum of 15.3 degrees Celsius recorded at measuring stations in both Děčín and České Budějovice, the warmest New Year's Eve temperature recorded in the Czech Republic since 1935.

At the Kopisty measuring station, the recorded temperature of 15.7 degrees Celsius on New Year's Day topped the previous Czech high by more than a degree. It also topped the previous January 1 high at the station, 12.1 degrees Celsius in 2007, by 3.6 degrees.

A high of 15 degrees Celsius was reported at the measuring station in Žatec; In Brod nad Dyjí, a high of 14.7 degrees was reported. Both temperatures would have also set the Czech record for January 1.

Warm temperatures continued into the night, and peaked at 12.5 degrees in Děčín, 12.1 degrees in Kopisty, and 11.7 degrees at Prague's Klementinum measuring station.

Over the Christmas holidays, a cold front led to snow and ice warnings issued across the Czech Republic, and temperatures down to minus 15 degrees Celsius. In the Jizera Mountains, the temperature dropped to minus 26.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature this winter.

The extreme change in temperatures heading into 2022 has led to snow and ice rapidly melting in some areas, and flood warnings issued in isolated areas in northern and southern regions of the country.

The warm weather isn't expected to last very long, however. By Wednesday, temperatures throughout the country are forecast to cool to highs of around seven degrees, and dip further as we head towards next weekend.