The following is a list of atmospheric pressure records in Europe and the extratropical Northern Atlantic. (It does not include localised events, such as those that occur in tornados.)
Extreme pressure values in Europe show both seasonal and geographical differentiation. The greatest pressure extremes occur in winter (January), with the deepest lows occurring to the northwest of the continent, and a diminishing influence of low pressure to the southeast towards Central Europe and Southeast Europe. This is related to the main cyclonic centre of the Icelandic Low, and the North Atlantic extratropical storm track, close to which have been observed some of the lowest atmospheric pressures of the Northern Hemisphere outside the tropics. Extreme high values are favoured over the north east of Europe where intense cold and long winter nights lead to radiative cooling of the air column, causing sinking air reinforcing the development of the highest pressures. Other influences include the semi-permanent Azores High and Siberian High.
For comparison, the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is 1013.25 hPa. This is the average pressure at sea level under calm, stable conditions.
Land-based records for Europe:
Other high values have been reported:
Pressure is thought to have risen above 1060 hPa in Europe on only 12 occasions between 1871 and 2010, in the years 1893, 1899, 1907, 1915, 1920, 1938, 1944, 1946, 1956, 1972, 1995 and 2008. To this list might also be included high pressure anticyclones in 1954 and 2012 (see above), and 1869. The most notable high in Europe peaked in January 1907. This was an unusual development that brought high pressure to the west, and holds the officially-recognised record across multiple countries from Scandinavia to Central Europe (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary).
Another value reported:
Note: Iceland is a sparsely populated country with a very limited number of weather stations compared to its area. Therefore the vast majority of extreme pressure events will not have been recorded.
High pressure in Iceland has exceeded 1050 hPa on 5 recorded occasions in the 19th century, 4 recorded occasions in the 20th century and 2 in the 21st century.
Climatic Research Unit Emulate data 1874âÂÂ2002, also gives values on 10 March 1887 at Stykkishólmur 1052.43 hPa and also 9 January 1977 at the same location 1050.47 hPa.
In July the pressure in Iceland has only dropped below 975 hPa or lower three times over the entire record extending back to the 1820s. These cases were 974.1 hPa in Stykkishólmur on 18 July 1901, 974.3 hPa in Stykkishólmur on 19 July 1923 and 975.0 hPa in ReykjavÃÂk 11 July 1912.âÂÂto which can be added 22 July 2012, with 972.4 hPa reported on the Westman Isles, becoming the new national record for the month.
A recent low pressure on 30 December 2015 was recorded at Kirkjubaejarklaustur (associated with an area of low pressure known as Eckard/Frank) at 930.2 hPa, the lowest pressure recorded on land in Iceland since 1989.
The Danish Meteorological Institute report record atmospheric pressure for the Faroe Islands (since 1961) as:
Climatic Research Unit Emulate data 1874âÂÂ2002 give 3 dates when pressure exceeded 1050 hPa in Tórshavn.
Met ÃÂireann list the following national records for atmospheric pressure:
1957âÂÂ2005
An earlier value on 8 December 1886, Cronkbourne .
For the United Kingdom, the Met Office record the record figures for atmospheric pressure (which are nominally since 1870) as:
Though the lowest pressure may be second to the Night of the Big Wind low, which saw a value of at Sumburgh Head, Shetland on non-calibrated, non-standard equipment 6âÂÂ7 January 1839, with the mainland at Cape Wrath reporting an observed pressure of .
On 26 January 1884, during the Ochtertyre storm the Ben Nevis summit weather station recorded a low pressure of 784.7 hPa (at high altitude (above 750 m) and not reduced to sea level) this is proposed as being almost certainly the lowest surface pressure ever recorded in the UK, though due to altitude and not being a value reduced to sea level is not considered comparable to the other records presented here.
A low pressure of 914.0 hPa affected the UK during the Braer Storm on 10 January 1993, however this figure is discounted as this reading was not recorded in the UK.
(â note the value of 1054.7 reported in some literature is an incorrect conversion.)
In the period of instrumental measurement the atmospheric pressure has exceeded 1048 hPa somewhere over the United Kingdom and Ireland on 18 occasions. On 10 of these times, the pressure exceeded 1050 hPa. Intense high pressure is usually seen during midwinter with eight of the 10 occasions where 1050 hPa has been exceeded occurring in January.
Pressure values have been recorded to have exceeded 1050 hPa in all areas of the UK and Ireland except south east England, though values close to this are documented from January 1882 and January 1905. To which high pressure in January 2020 saw a value of 1049.6 at Heathrow Airport measured, which is thought to be likely the highest pressure seen in the region with records back to 1692.
Cyclone Oratia is estimated to have reached a low of 941 hPa in peer-reviewed literature, though the lowest pressure occurred between Aberdeen and Norway over the North Sea and is not a land-based observation. The lowest land-based reported UK pressure during this storm, of 951.2 hPa, was recorded at RAF Fylingdales.
On 7 September 1995, Scilly Isles, reported a low pressure of 966 hPa. The lowest minimum recorded values for the months May to August lie within 0.5 of 968 hPa.
The 20th century low pressure record in the UK occurred on 20 December 1982 at Sule Skerry: it may have dropped as low as 936 hPa.
Based on Burt (2007) and Met Office.
Same as UK national records.
Alt. 8 December 1886, Newton Reigny in Cumbria, .
Yr.no the joint venture between the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute give the national pressure records as:
(formerly listed as 27 January 1907, Bergen 936 hPa.)
A value of 702.0 mm Hg at Bergen LungegÃÂ¥rd Hospital on January 27, 1884 (935.8 hPa) is also reported, which is likely to be from the same low as the UK record from Ochtertyre the previous day. Other sources give a pressure value of 939.8 hPa or 939.7 hPa in Bergen on 27 January 1884.
Both records in same winter as each other and those of Denmark.
Norway uses a different formula for correction of air pressure to sea level than Sweden. This affects the result for high altitude stations in cold weather.
The Danish Meteorological Institute report record barometric pressure for Denmark (since 1874) as:
Danish records both occurred within a month during the same winter, and same winter as Norwegian records.
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute give the nation's barometric records as:
According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute:
Though a reported low value by Weather Underground weather historian Christopher Burt on 1 March 1990 at an unknown location is reported at 939.7 hPa. Helsingin Sanomat report a value at Turku Airport on 28 February 1990 of 939.8 hPa, with the previous record reported as being from 16 December 1982 on Moikpää, in the Kvarken at 942.1 hPa.
Maximum pressure in Europe 22âÂÂ23 January 1907 recorded in Pärnu, Estonia and Riga, Latvia at 1067.1 mbar. The Free University of Berlin state the European air pressure record is 23 January 1907 in Riga at 1068.7 hPa.
As reported by the Estonian Weather Service
â¡The Estonian Weather Service report on their website the record maximum observed air pressure in the country as 1060.3 hPa recorded 23 January 1907 in Tallinn. This figure is not supported by NOAA reanalysis charts and the values reported from neighbouring Finland and Latvia probably make this figure an underestimation or error. A possible maximum pressure value for the whole of Europe is thought to have occurred during the 22âÂÂ23 January 1907 high pressure event with a record set in Pärnu, Estonia and Riga, Latvia at 1067.1 mbar. Though this value is exceeded by the value on 23 January 1907 in Riga reported at 1068.7 hPa by the Free University of Berlin's student generated reports, at which time the pressure is estimated to have reached around 1070 hPa by Yr.no in the Gulf of Riga.
In the period 1960 to 2014, 16 December 1997 Daugavpils a value of 1055.8 hPa recorded.
23 January 1907 1065.1 hPa. Deutsche Seewarte gives morning readings on 23 January 1907 in KlaipÃÂda (Memel) of and in Vilnius (Wilna) of . There is a mention in the Hungarian meteorological journal Idà Âjarás of reaching in Vilnius (Wilna) during the exceptional January 1907 anticyclone, but in the other place the Vilnius value of is reported. According to an article in the German-Austrian expert journal Meteorologische Zeitschrift, on 23 January 1907 at 7 hrs Vilnius (Wilna) reached .
1862âÂÂpresent
Guernsey Airport 1960âÂÂpresent.
Météo-France figures from 1951âÂÂpresent.
though other listed figures predate Météo-France's records.
On 28 January 1905 values of in Biarritz, and in Brest are listed in the Met Office Daily Weather Report. On the 29 January 1905, the atmospheric pressure reached a value of 1049.3 hPa in Paris.
The Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute gives the national record values as:
The Dutch Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute lists the following as national records:
The German weather service (DWD) give the
Other record figures and locations are also presented:
The highest value is likely to have occurred during the 1907 high pressure event. Deutsche Seewarte gives an evening reading on 23 January 1907 in Vienna of .
The Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) gives the following values:
According to an expert article in the Hungarian journal Pótfüzetek a Természettudományi Közlönyhöz, the highest reading in Budapest on 24 January 1907 was at 8 hrs. A Hungarian meteorological journal Idà Âjarás reports in Budapest on the same day.
A private weather station in Balzers, southwest Liechtenstein reported on 28 December 2016 a value of 1046.4 hPa under the high named Yörn, described as a record by the Liechtensteiner Vaterland.
It is likely 23 January 1907 saw a pressure of 1064.8 ñ 0.5 mbar over Polish territory. Deutsche Seewarte gives morning readings on 23 January 1907 in Nowy Port (Neufahrwasser) of , in Darà Âowo (Rügenwalde) and Warsaw (Warschau) of , in à Âwinoujà Âcie (Swinemünde) of and in Kraków (Krakau) of . According to an article in the German-Austrian expert journal Meteorologische Zeitschrift, on 23 January 1907 Suwalki reached and Warsaw (Warschau) at 7 hrs, while Nowy Port (Neufahrwasser) at 13 hrs. In another article in the same journal, Rudzki reports the highest value in Kraków of on 23 January 1907 at 10 a.m.
Other high pressures are reported as 1051.1 hPa January 22, 2006, 1050 hPa January 3, 1993 and 1048 hPa 10 December 1991.
Reanalysis data show a low record likely occurred on 17 January 1931 when a below 960 hPa low moved over the Baltic skirting the very north of today's Polish territory.
The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute report:
The Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) tweeted that pressure on 20 January 2020 reached 1048 hPa, slightly below the values seen on January 24, 1907 and 24 December 1963.
Other high pressures in Switzerland are given as 3âÂÂ4 March 1990 at Zurich Airport of >1047 hPa and 29 January 1989 at Schaffhausen of 1047.2 hPa, which was the highest pressure in the country since the 1950s, when values on 15 February 1959 at Kloten reached 1047.1 hPa. A high value of 1050.2 hPa at Bern on 17 January 1882 is proposed as having occurred (on an internet forum). Though values in MeteoSwiss annals are unreduced to MSLP.
Deutsche Seewarte gives a morning reading on 24 January 1907 in Belgrade of .
Articles in expert journals Idà Âjarás and Pótfüzetek a Természettudományi Közlönyhöz report on 24 January 1907 in Sibiu (Nagyszeben). Deutsche Seewarte gives a morning Sibiu (Hermannstadt) reading on 24 January 1907 of .
A reading of in Ternopil (Ternopol) on 24 January 1907 is reported by an expert article in the Hungarian journal Pótfüzetek a Természettudományi Közlönyhöz. According to an article in the German-Austrian expert journal Meteorologische Zeitschrift, Lviv (Lemberg) reached on 23 January 1907 at 21 hrs. Deutsche Seewarte gives morning readings on 23 January 1907 in Lviv (Lemberg) of .
Deutsche Seewarte gives a morning reading on 24 January 1907 in Pinsk of .
Notable atmospheric pressure reports from offshore and in the North Atlantic are:
A lower value is reported from 27 to 28 February 1988 at 1053 hPa centred at approximately 53.5ð N, 25.6ð W.
For comparison, the lowest Atlantic basin tropical cyclone low pressure is Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which holds the record at 882 hPa. (see list of most intense tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic).
Similarly low extra-tropical values elsewhere have only been documented near Antarctica, with 919 hPa observed at Casey Station on the Windmill Islands (just outside the Antarctic Circle) on August 8âÂÂ9, 1976 at Vincennes Bay (66ð17âÂÂS 110ð31âÂÂE). Though this value is considerably lower than any other on record and could conceivably be a fault with the recording instrument, though values are internally consistent with readings below 940 mb at this time. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters in July 2023 on an extratropical cyclone in the Southern Ocean in October 2022 estimated that the cyclone reached a pressure of while also estimate four other cyclones in the same region with pressures below or equal to .
The two lowest extra-tropical pressures reported from the Pacific basin are the 8 November 2014 Bering Sea cyclone at 924 hPa (warnings for the low to reach 920 hPa were released by the Japan Meteorological Agency), and the 13 December 2015 North Pacific low at 924 hPa. 31 December 2020 NWS OPC analysis of a low 52N 173E down to 921 hPa.
During a typical winter, one or perhaps two low pressure areas in the North Atlantic will deepen below 950 hPa, with pressures only deepening below 940 hPa on average once or twice per decade. Before the satellite and weather model era, records (mostly from shipping) reported barometric pressures over the extratropical North Atlantic as going as low as 925 hPa, with values below 940 hPa being very rare occurrences. The frequency of very deep depressions (central pressure below about 940 hPa) in the North Atlantic is thought to have increased significantly since the winter of 1982/83 to 1993.