Temperatures in Montreal reached an all-time high for November on Saturday, as residents accustomed to bundling up for intense Canadian winters were hit with a wave of unseasonable warmth.
Montreal, the largest city in Quebec province, saw temperatures exceed 23 degrees Celsius, beating the last record set for the month in 2020.
Average temperatures normally hover around 8 degrees Celsius this time of year. Already in October temperatures were 2 degrees Celsius above normal.
"This is the first time we've recorded a temperature like this in November since we've had data, it's an all-time record," Environment Canada meteorologist Dominic Martel said.
Temperatures rose to 22.4 degrees Celsius on November 10, 2020. The last record before that was set in 1948, with a peak of 21.7 degrees Celsius.
A woman helped a little girl walk between a water fountain during a heatwave at the Place des Arts in Montreal, Quebec, June 21, 2020 as temperatures reached 33 degrees Celsius. (Photo: CFP)
Since the beginning of the week, temperatures have been rising gradually due to a mass of warm air from the southern United States, coinciding with much less rain than usual and forest fires northeast of Quebec.
Europe is also experiencing an abnormally warm autumn, in a sign that the impact of climate change is accelerating.
The five hottest years on record have all come since 2016 as climate change drives ever longer and stronger hot spells and drier soil conditions.
