Global weather: Cape Town ‘records its hottest ever temperature’ as Greece is blanketed in snow

Cape Town recorded its highest ever temperature as parts of South Africa was gripped by a weekend heatwave, according to an expert.

The extreme conditions saw temperatures soar to as high as 45.2C, climatologist Max Hererra said.

He said preliminary data suggests the city beat its precious record by almost 3C on Saturday - when Cape Town was the hottest place in Africa.

“The maximum temperature at Table Bay was an incredible 45.2C. Previous all time record (42.4C) of Cape Town destroyed by almost 3C. We will be waiting for the confirmation of ZA Met Office about the station because the exceptionality of this event. Cape Town was the hottest place in Africa – never happened before,” he said.

Just over a week earlier, the hottest ever temperature recorded in the southern hemisphere was equalled in the Southern Australian town of Onslow, where the thermometer reached 50.7C.

Amid growing signs of climate change, temperature records have also recently been smashed in parts of the US, with Kansas and Missouri seeing their warmest ever December.

Earlier this month the World Meteorological Organisation declared 2021 one of the planet’s hottest ever years, with temperatures about 1.11℃ above pre-industrial levels.

That is the seventh year in a row that the average global temperature rise edged over 1℃.

But while some parts of the world sizzled in extreme heat, large parts of Greece and Turkey was hit by an unusually severe snowstorm on Monday.

Road and air traffic was disrupted in Athens as snow blanketed much of the country, including several Aegean islands.

The Greek government declared a holiday on Tuesday in the greater Athens area, parts of central Greece and the islands to keep people from leaving home.

The storm, named Elpida, or "hope," in Greece, snarled traffic in Athens and put most public transport out of action.

Army and fire service teams were deployed on Monday to extract hundreds of motorists trapped for hours in snowed-in cars, taking them to rented hotel rooms.