January 2020 temperature, hydrological, and sea ice highlights: - The global temperature was warmer than any previous January in the data record, but only marginally so (by 0.03C) in the case of January 2016.
- For Europe, last month was the warmest January in this record, about 0.2ºC warmer than than the previous warmest January from 2007. It was 3.1°C warmer than the average January in the period 1981-2010, with some areas more than 6°C above the 1981-2010 average.
- Europe was generally drier than average, with notable exceptions in Norway and the region from northeastern Spain into southern France.
- In the extra-tropical Southern Hemisphere, a number of countries experienced much above average rainfall, including western Australia, Madagascar and Mozambique
- Both the Arctic and Antarctica saw below average sea ice cover compared to the 1981-2010 average
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