First there was a once-a-century bomb cyclone 2000 miles wide that froze the entire Eastern US. Gigantic US winter storm leaves millions without power and cancels holiday plans
Then Europe had a record breaking heat dome. Here is a new article that explains a bit about the cause. What is causing the winter heat wave in Europe? It says that heat domes are caused by high pressure zones of stagnant air.
Two way bigger than normal events happened back to back. It makes me wonder if they are related? It sounds plausible that the Eastern US was cold because a lot of cold air from the arctic flowed south. If so, that air has to be replaced by warm air from the south flowing north. Did anything like this happen?