With snow still abundant in the Serra da Estrela mountain range this week, it is not surprising that average temperatures in Portugal were all below existing averages, in contrast to global patterns.
According to NASA figures released over the weekend, April 2016 was the hottest April on record globally – and the seventh month in a row to have broken global temperature records.
The latest figures also broke the previous record for April by the largest margin ever registered.
The weather patterns in April here in Portugal followed March, during which average minimum temperatures registered were the lowest in 32 years, according to the national Met office, and the sixth coldest since 1931.
The IMPA Portuguese Met Office said “the number of days with an air temperature equal to or below zero degrees” in March was “higher than normal.”
It described March 2016 as having been a “very cold” month on the mainland, with average temperatures ranging between highs of 15.6 degrees Celsius, and lower-than-normal lows of 5.2 degrees Celsius.
In contrast to March’s record-breaking lows, it was revealed at the turn of the year that December 2015 had been the second warmest December in Portugal since records began. In addition, the whole year of 2015 was the second warmest in the past 15 years, and the fourth driest.
According to the Portuguese Met Office, 2015 was overall the seventh warmest since records began and also the sixth driest.