Warmest November ever on record for Gibraltar, Met Office says

Gibraltar experienced it's warmest November since records began in 1947, the Gibraltar Met Office has said.

The Met Office recorded a daily (24-hour) mean temperature of 18.7 Celsius in November.

“This is 2.2 degrees Celsius higher than the 30-year long term average (1991-2020) of 16.5 Celsius,” a spokesperson for the Met Office said.

“The previous November record was in 1995 with a daily mean temperature of 18.5 Celsius.”

The Met Office added that Gibraltar experienced its warmest mean night minimum temperature.

The November mean night minimum was 16.9 Celsius which is 2.9 degrees Celsius higher than the long-term average.

The minimum temperature is recorded every night and these values are then averaged out over the month to give the mean night minimum temperature.

This means November nights, this year, have been milder compared to previous years.

This comes after a record-breaking couple years, with 2022 and 2023 breaking the record for warmest years consecutively.

January and February 2024 also broke the record for being the warmest January and February on record.

The records don’t stop there.

Gibraltar also saw the warmest winter on record earlier this year, with December 2023 to February 2024 reaching a daily mean temperature of 15.5°C.

The record for the warmest December day was broken on December 11, 2023, with a maximum temperature of 25°C recorded at the airport.

The Met Office added that for 2024 the December figures to be compiled but, as it stands, 2024 is looking to be warmer than the long-term average.

The record-breaking warm weather locally comes against the backdrop of global concern on climate change and rising temperatures.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said as it issued a “red alert” over climate change as it recorded
that 2024 is on track to be the hottest on record.

The WMO said the global average temperature for January to September 2024 was 1.54C above pre-industrial levels, based on analysis from six global datasets, boosted by a warming El Nino weather phenomenon in the Pacific.

This year is set to outstrip even the record heat of 2023, the agency said.

The WMO said that while long-term warming measured over decades remains below 1.5C, the past 10 years are the warmest on record, ocean heat reached new records in 2023, sea-level rise is accelerating, and Antarctic sea-ice extent is at its second-lowest level on record.

And the WMO warns weather and climate extremes from floods and storms to dangerous heat are hitting millions, causing loss of life, damage, worsening food insecurity and exacerbating displacement and migration.