Malmö Macroclimate

The climate in Malmö can be classified as temperate oceanic with relatively warm winters for its latitude, somewhat warm summers, as well as rainfall and high humidity all year round. The average maximum temperature in the summer months ranges from 20.5°C in June to 23°C in July. The air is humid with an average relative humidity in summer of around 70%, however on hot days above 25°C it is between 50-60%. Wind in Malmö predominantly blows from west or south-west directions, sometimes also from the east and south-east (see Fig.1 - wind rose). 

Climate change already has a significant effect on the temperatures in Skåne. Fig. 3 shows that the yearly maximum temperatures in the last 30 years has already increased by over 1.5°C compared to the period before. Furthermore, the amount of summer days with temperatures above 25°C has increased by about 70% (8 more days on average) in the same time period.

According to climate studies the future temperature increase in Scandinavia is predicted to be larger than the global mean due to its high latitude, with warming between 2-4° in a global warming scenario of maximum 2° increase compared to pre-industrial levels. The Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI) projects, based on the IPCC emission scenarios, a temperature increase in Skåne during the summer months of 1.7°C by 2070 in a RCP 2.6 scenario, which limits global warming to 2°C. In a RCP 4.5 scenario, where emissions keep rising until 2040, the temperature increase in Skåne  amounts to 2.2°C by 2070 compared to 2020. Additionally, with increasing temperatures and extreme weather events, heat waves like the one in 2018 which currently occur about every 10 years, might be so common to occur every 5 years instead.