Portugal records hottest-ever November: weather agency

Portugal has experienced its hottest-ever November, the country's meteorological agency the IPMA said Thursday, the average air temperature 2.69 degrees Celsius higher than the average for 1981-2010.

The average temperature for November was 15.14 degrees Celsius (59.3 Fahrenheit), said the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere.

"November has been the hottest month recorded" since the institute began collecting such data in 1931, a spokesman told AFP.

The institute is due to publish its complete figures for the month in the coming days.

On Monday the meteorological agency in neighbouring Spain announced that it had recorded its warmest November since records began, coming on the heels of deadly floods in October.

In Spain, November's average temperature was 12.4 degrees Celsius (54.3 Fahrenheit): 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record for November, in 1983.

Both countries experienced their second-hottest ever year in 2023.

As global temperatures rise because of climate change, scientists have warned that heatwaves and other extreme weather events like droughts and wildfires will become more frequent and intense.