2020 was hottest year in Europe

2020 was recorded as the warmest year in Europe, according to the European Union's climate monitoring service Friday.

Looking at the consistent trend over the past decade, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said 2020 was the sixth in a series of exceptionally warm years starting in 2015.

Europe saw its warmest year on record, 0.4°C warmer than 2019 which was previously the warmest year, it added in a written statement.

Meanwhile, Copernicus reported a rise in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere with a rate of approximately 2.3 ppm/year in 2020 reaching a maximum of 413 ppm during May 2020.

“It is no surprise that the last decade was the warmest on record, and is yet another reminder of the urgency of ambitious emissions reductions to prevent adverse climate impacts in the future," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the C3S.