Simon Hunter
THIS WEEKEND saw Spain officially enter a heatwave, the eighth since the year 2011 to fall within the month of June. The extreme weather is likely to last until Thursday and could see temperatures as high as 44ºC in parts of the peninsula, according to the Aemet state weather service.
“We have at least three more days of very intense heat ahead of us,” the Aemet spokesperson, Ruben del Campo, told news agency Europa Press.
The weekend saw more than 42ºC in parts of Andalucia and Extremadura, and 43ºC in areas of Seville and Cordoba. El Granado in Huelva hit as high as 44ºC.
The current heatwave is having the greatest effect in the central and southwestern parts of the peninsula, affecting above all the regions of Madrid, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.
“It won’t be until Thursday and Friday when the arrival of a mass of fresher Atlantic air will see a fall in temperatures and will bring to an end the first heatwave of the 2023 summer,” Del Campo added.
Aemet also warned that more storms are likely in central and northern parts of the peninsula, while forest fires are also likely given the extreme heat.
A heatwave is defined by Aemet as a period of at least three consecutive days when at least 10% of weather measuring stations register temperatures above the 95th percentile of their daily maximum temperature series for the months of July and August of the period 1971-2000.
Read more:
- After unusually warm April in Spain, dry and hot weather spell continues into May
- AEMET warns of a sultry summer ahead in Spain
- First heatwave of the summer, with highs of 45ºC, could hit Spain this week
