It comes at the same time as mild temperatures in Japan brought the earliest peak bloom to Kyoto’s cherry blossom trees in at least 1,200 years of bookkeeping. Record-high temperatures have extended to much of Asia, with another area of exceptional warmth concentrated in southern China.
On Wednesday, Germany and the Netherlands set all-time March records, reporting highs of 81 degrees (27.2 Celsius) and 79 degrees (26.1 Celsius), respectively. Kew Gardens, about 10 miles west of London on the River Thames, hit 76.1 degrees (24.5 Celsius) on Tuesday, the highest March temperature in Britain since 1968.
Climate historian Maximiliano Herrera has been tracking the records and their historical context, and he describes the episode as “historic.”
France also saw record warmth Tuesday as the nation’s average temperature was higher than on any other March day in recorded history. More than 220 weather stations, or roughly 37 percent of France’s network, observed new maximum March temperatures.
Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands and just 10 miles off northern France, hit 73.2 degrees (22.9 Celsius) on Tuesday afternoon, the highest March temperature there in more than 125 years of records.
Guernsey, an island 15 miles to the northwest, hit 67.6 degrees (19.8 Celsius), its highest March temperature on record dating to 1843. The Guernsey Met Office is calling for near 68 degrees Thursday, but records are not in jeopardy because the calendar has flipped to April.