At more than five kilometres up, the atmosphere above Europe was still above zero degrees celsius last summer.

The alarming reading was taken by a Swiss weather balloon on July 25 at a height of 5,184 metres – far beyond the point where temperatures should register sub-zero.

It is just one indicator of the over-heating continent highlighted by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in its annual State of the World Climate report.

Ireland was one of 10 European countries to have their hottest year on record and Europe’s glaciers suffered more ice loss than anywhere else in the world over the 12 months to last October.

Little winter snow, an intrusion of Saharan dust in March last year and recurrent heatwaves beginning in May and running through to September, meant that for the first time in history, no snow survived the summer melt to replenish the ice loss.

In just one year, 6pc of Switzerland’s glacier ice vanished, bringing the total loss of ice bulk to a third over 20 years.

Evidence of growing warming was also plentiful across the globe.

The years 2015-2022 were the eight warmest on record despite the last three consecutive years of La Nina – the periodic switch in wind patterns that has a cooling influence over large parts of the planet.

Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest level on record and sea level and ocean heat rose to their highest.

Glaciers, for which there are continuous long-term observations, lost an average of more than 1.3 metres of their thickness, bringing their total average shrinkage since 1970 to 30 metres.

The Greenland Ice Sheet lost more ice than it created for the 26th year in a row.

The rate of global sea-level rise continued to increase, doubling from the decade 1993-2002 to the last decade 2013-2022.

WMO secretary-general Professor Petteri Taalas summarised the situation in bleak terms. “In 2022, continuous drought in East Africa, record-breaking rainfall in Pakistan and record-breaking heatwaves in China and Europe affected tens of millions, drove food insecurity, boosted mass migration, and cost billions of dollars in loss and damage.”

“Throughout the year, hazardous climate and weather-related events drove new population displacement and worsened conditions for many of the 95 million people already living in displacement at the beginning of the year,” it says.

It shows evidence of disruption and damage to ecosystems and the environment, upsetting migration patterns and blossom times.

Concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – reached record observed highs in 2021, the latest year for which full global data is available.

“Real-time data from specific locations show levels of the three greenhouse gases continued to rise in 2022,” it says.

The report is released ahead of Earth Day today and was referenced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his Earth Day message in which he appealed for faster, stronger action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have the tools, the knowledge, and the solutions. But we must pick up the pace,” he said.

“We also need massively scaled-up investments in adaptation and resilience, particularly for the most vulnerable countries and communities who have done the least to cause the crisis.”

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