Sweden sees record heat for this late in the year

Swedish meteorologists said Saturday they had recorded the country's highest temperature ever measured this late into the autumn.

The record temperature of 19.5 degrees Celsius (67.1 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in the city of Kristianstad in the south of the country on Friday.

"This is the highest temperature ever recorded in Sweden this late in the year," Erik Hojgard-Olsen, meteorologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) told AFP.

While not the highest temperature recorded for the month of October -- that was 24.5C on October 9, 1995 -- it has never been warmer than 19C this late in the year, and that temperature was last recorded in 1963, Hojgard-Olsen explained.

He said the October weather overall had been a few degrees warmer than normal in Sweden.

Though a direct link to climate change could not be drawn from a single day record, the meteorologist said that overall "we are continuing to observe high temperatures and that is in line with a warmer climate."