by EFAS Meteorological Data Collection Centre

November 2020 was characterised by higher than normal mean sea surface pressure in the majority of the EFAS domain. As a result, monthly precipitation totals were below the long-term means nearly everywhere in the EFAS domain except in Scandinavia and some parts of the Mediterranean region. Monthly mean air temperatures were below the long-term means in Anatolia, around the Caspian Sea, the Balkans, Iceland, and above elsewhere in the EFAS domain.
 
In the beginning of November 2020, the Azores High extended towards the Iberian Peninsula and connected with another high-pressure system over Western Russia. A small low-pressure system was located over the northwest of the Black Sea, moved northward and later towards Mesopotamia. Other low-pressure systems were situated westward and northward of Great Britain and Ireland, connected by an upper-level trough. They brought intense precipitation and especially strong winds to northwest Europe and later, as they moved towards the northeast, to Scandinavia. Even as it moved to the northeast, the trough steepened at the southwestern edge and led to a cut-off of an upper-level low-pressure system westward of the Iberian Peninsula associated with heavy rain. A high-pressure system moved northward around this upper-level system via Great Britain and Ireland and central Europe towards eastern Europe. A weak upper-level low-pressure system caused heavy rains around the Aegean Sea. By mid-November a low-pressure system moved from the Atlantic Ocean via Great Britain and Ireland, over the Norwegian Sea and towards northern Scandinavia, while a high-pressure system formed over Russia. This situation caused freezing rain in many locations in western Russia as well as strong winds. In the following days, a low-pressure system developed over the central Mediterranean region, while another one was located near Iceland with a high-pressure system in between.  One low-pressure system moved from Iceland to Scandinavia, while another brought intense rain to the central Mediterranean region. Later, an upper-level trough developed over the Atlantic Ocean, extended towards the south and cut-off west of the Iberian Peninsula. Simultaneously, a large high-pressure system was located over eastern Europe and a small low-pressure system over Scandinavia. This low-pressure system moved in the next days towards eastern Europe replacing the high-pressure system. The upper-level system moved to the central Mediterranean region associated with heavy rain, for example in Sardinia. Another cut-off occurred again westward of the Iberian Peninsula. By the end of November, a low-pressure system developed over central Europe as secondary system from a low-pressure system at the Norwegian Sea.
 
In November 2020, the highest precipitation totals were observed around the Mediterranean Sea, the Iberian Peninsula, southeast of the Black Sea, in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as at the western slope of the Scandinavian Mountains (Figure 1). No or almost no precipitation fell in the south of the EFAS domain, around the Caspian Sea, Anatolia, the Balkans, southward the Alps, and eastern central Europe. Monthly precipitation totals below the long-term means occurred in the majority of the EFAS domain (Figure 2). Monthly totals above the long-term means were reported from some regions around the Mediterranean Sea, southeast of the Black Sea, and in Scandinavia.

The monthly mean air temperature ranged from -13.9°C to 24.2°C with the highest values in the southern parts of the EFAS domain. The lowest temperature values were reported in the northern and mountainous parts (Figure 3). Air temperature anomalies ranged from -4°C to 7.7°C (Figure 4). Monthly mean air temperatures below the long-term means occurred at the Balkans, in Anatolia, around the Caspian Sea, in northeast Africa, and in Iceland. Positive monthly mean temperature anomalies were reported in the other parts of the EFAS domain with the largest anomalies in northern Scandinavia and Russia.