Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also worth noting that Europe in general is really far north compared to the US. Spain is on the same latitude more or less as NYC.
That's misleading because Europe is on the western edge of the Eurasian landmass, meaning it gets the benefit of warm air heated up over the ocean. By the time the air gets to the eastern edge of a landmass it's a lot colder, which is why London has a milder average temperature than NY and Vladivostok, despite being almost 10° further north than both.
TBH I am not super solid on every one of these details.