In 2005 the average temperature in the Baltic state, which lies at around the same latitude as Denmark and Scotland, was 6.3 degrees Celsius, the agency said.

The warmest year in Latvia was 1989, when the average annual temperature was 7.7 Celsius, or two degrees above the norm.

In 1941 temperatures were 2.5 degrees below normal, making that year the coldest since the meteorological service began calculating the average temperature in 1921.

Temperatures in Latvia have been above the norm since 1988, with 1996 being the only exception when the annual average was 5 degrees Celsius.