Meteorological bureau: 2024 was Bulgaria’s warmest year since 1930
The year 2024 was the warmest year for Bulgaria since 1930, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology said in a provisional analysis published on January 6.
Bulgaria’s average temperature in 2024 was about 2.1 degrees Celsius (°C) above climate norms.
This was about 0.5 °C warmer than the previous record year – 2023.
As The Sofia Globe reported on January 5 2024, the average annual temperature for 2023 in Bulgaria was 12.9 degrees Celsius, making 2023 at that point the country’s warmest on record since 1930. The year 2023 was about 0.4 degrees warmer than 2019, the second warmest, the meteorological bureau said at the time.
The meteorological bureau said in its January 6 2025 report that 2024 was characterised by a record-breaking warm winter and summer, the warmest since 1930.
In spring and autumn, average seasonal temperatures were also above climate norms, but with significantly smaller positive deviations.
During the transitional seasons, the only two months with temperatures below the norms were also recorded – May (minus 0.8 °C) and November (minus 1.2 °C).
Summer 2024 in Bulgaria was the hottest ever recorded in the country.
June was the warmest June since 1930. In July and August, Bulgaria was hit by a series of heat waves (consecutive days with maximum air temperatures ≥ 32 °C).
Precipitation in 2024, on average for the country, was close to the climatic norms, varying widely over the individual months. In most months, rainfall was below the norm.
During almost all months of 2024, a number of extreme weather events were recorded in various regions of the country, some of which led to significant damage and even human casualties.
During the period April-September, thunderstorms, accompanied by intense rain, strong gusts of wind and hail, caused damage to agricultural areas, residential buildings, cars and infrastructure in various regions of the country.
The damage from the storms on April 25 was more significant, when close to 500 hectares of agricultural production were completely destroyed in Central Southern Bulgaria and in the Sub-Balkan valleys.
In the first days of June, storms, accompanied by hail and strong gusts of wind, also caused damage to agricultural areas, and residential buildings, cars and infrastructure were also damaged.
In places, the amount of precipitation in hours approached 80 per cent of the monthly norms, and the size of the hailstones ranged from hazelnuts to chicken eggs.
The most affected were the districts of Sofia, Veliko Turnovo, Lovech, Shoumen and Stara Zagora.
On July 22, lightning caused a fire in an apartment building in Plovdiv, and in the Central Balkan region, two tourists died.
On September 11, as a result of a strong thunderstorm and heavy rain in the extreme northeastern parts of the country, floods were recorded in the cities of Beloslav and Kavarna. The amount of precipitation measured in three hours at the Beloslav rain gauge station was double the monthly norm for the region. Fifty-two households in the town were affected by the flood.
High temperatures in summer 2024, lack of rainfall and human negligence were the reason for dozens of fires that raged in various places in the country, the bureau said.
Strong gusts of wind contributed to the growth of fire fronts and made firefighting difficult.
Partial states of emergency have been declared in some municipalities, and residents of several villages were evacuated.
On July 17, a fire broke out in the village of Voden, Bolyarovo municipality, destroying 35 houses and burning dozens of domestic animals. The village was evacuated.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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