Reference prices for natural gas on the European market fell on Monday thanks to the unusually high temperatures for this time of the year and the high level of storage filling, reports Bloomberg.

At around 10:14 a.m. at the TTF gas hub in Amsterdam, where European benchmark prices are set, natural gas futures for November delivery were down 2.4% at 40 .86 euros for one Megawatt-hour, after decreases of up to 3.5% were recorded during the meeting.

Weather forecasts show that temperatures in northwest Europe will remain above the multi-year average for most of October as gas injection into storage facilities continues. According to the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, gas storage facilities in Europe are already at a degree of filling of more than 95%, according to Agerpres.

Europe enters the fourth quarter with unusually warm weather, which creates the prospect for saving fuel stocks as the start of the heating delivery season is delayed. However, the continent is still vulnerable to possible supply problems and risks, after last year’s historic energy crisis.

As of Sunday, natural gas deliveries from Algeria to Italy were below normal, data from Italy’s transmission system operator showed. In parallel, gas extraction from the Groningen field in the Netherlands was stopped on October 1, as planned.

Even if these developments and other factors affect supply for now, demand for gas and electricity should be higher in the fourth quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, say analysts from S&P Global Commodity Insights. “Europe is expecting the first significant annual increase in demand for gas and electricity since the beginning of the crisis, but prices remain sensitive to supply disruptions,” say analysts in a report published on Friday. According to these analysts, gas demand will increase by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, after remaining at a limited level until now as a result of reduced consumption by producers and households.