Highest temperatures

2024 was the warmest year ever in Austria

Sweating woman outdoors(Bild: Goffkein - stock.adobe.com)

2024 was the warmest year in Geosphere Austria's measurement history. In the lowlands and mountains of Austria, it was 1.8 degrees warmer than an average year, it was reported on Thursday. 2024 began with the second warmest winter in recorded history.

This was followed by the warmest spring and the warmest summer. According to Geosphere Austria, new maximum temperatures for the month were measured at 100 (out of a total of 290) weather stations in April, and new maximum temperatures for September were recorded at 30 stations. In addition, the previous record of hot days with at least 30 degrees was exceeded in Vienna Innere Stadt (52), Eisenstadt (48), Vienna Hohe Warte (45) and St. Pölten (42).

Here you can see the annual balance sheet of Geosphere Austria on X.

Flooding in September
According to the report, the amount of precipitation across the entire country was eight percent above average. This was mainly due to the devastating floods in Upper and Lower Austria, Vienna, Northern Burgenland and Upper Styria in September.

In St. Pölten, it rained 409 millimetres in just five days in mid-September, which is a large part of the average amount for an entire year in the capital of Lower Austria. The year 2024 was one of the 30 wettest years in the 167-year measurement history. Nevertheless, it was too dry in July and August.

Trend towards a warmer climate
2024 confirms the trend towards an increasingly warmer climate. "Compared to the climate period from 1961 to 1990, which was not yet as severely affected by global warming, the year 2024 will be 3.1 degrees above average in the lowlands and 3.0 degrees above average in the mountains," said climatologist Alexander Orlik in a statement. Forecasts were taken into account for the last days of the year.