HIST-DAILY: A dataset of daily and sub-daily European weather observations before 1900

Long-term instrumental climate records are essential for understanding past climate variability and extremes. Monthly-scale datasets for the 18th and 19th centuries are relatively well-established, but high-resolution (daily and sub-daily) observations remain fragmented and difficult to access. This limitation restricts the analysis of historical weather extremes and dynamical processes necessary for climate adaptation.  

We present HIST-DAILY, a new dataset of daily and sub-daily instrumental and non-instrumental weather observations from Europe prior to 1900. HIST-DAILY assembles rescued observations from a wide range of historical sources, including national meteorological services, scientific societies, observatories, and archival publications, alongside newly digitized material from the PALAEO-RA project. 

The dataset focuses on near-surface air temperature and atmospheric pressure, with supplemental data of wind direction and precipitation. To facilitate integration into global data rescue workflows, all records are provided in the Station Exchange Format (SEF). This ensures consistent metadata and full traceability. Our standardized pre-processing includes calendar harmonization, unit conversion, and rigorous quality control. Ultimately, HIST-DAILY provides high-resolution empirical evidence needed to better understand past climate dynamics and improve the accuracy of historical weather reconstructions.