The US has just experienced its hottest ever winter, with record-breaking temperatures driving away snow and ice and causing the coldest months to feel bizarrely balmy in many parts of the country.
Swaths of the lower 48 states had a “lost” winter, with many of the coldest winter states – New York, Vermont, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and New Hampshire – all setting new record heat levels for the season, which concluded at the end of February, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).
