A bridge between two large positive temperature anomalies, one in the west of in Hudson Bay (+11°C), the other in the east in the Kara Sea (+7°C), spanned the North Atlantic in December. Either side was generally cooler, Southern Greenland was anomalously cold (-5°C), as was much of the southern North Atlantic, Mediterranean and near East. Anomalies across IONAIONA Islands Of North Atlantic. Yes I know there's an island called Iona, but this is so I don't have to use the term 'British Isles' when referring to the whole of Ireland and the UK. in the bridge were a toasty +1.6°C above the LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO..