Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

WEATHER

Wednesday is likely to be one of the hottest days in Spain in 73 years

Temperatures are expected to hit 44C in Spain on Wednesday August 9th, as 40 of the country's 50 provinces are on alert and the average national temperature is so high it will "probably be one of the hottest August days since 1950" according to the national weather agency.

Published: 9 August 2023 16:09 CEST
Wednesday is likely to be one of the hottest days in Spain in 73 years
A woman covers her head with a fan during a heatwave in Cordoba, southern Spain on August 8, 2023. The Iberian Peninsula is bearing the brunt of climate change in Europe, witnessing increasingly intense heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

With huge forest fires raging across southern Portugal for the fifth successive day, Spain’s weather service warned that the average temperature across the country could hit a 73-year record.

“This will probably be one of the hottest five August days in 73 years,” said AEMET, the state meteorological agency, with almost the whole country under orange or red weather alerts.

A total of 21 provincial capitals will reach at least 40 degrees Centigrade: Ciudad Real and Córdoba (44); Granada, Jaén and Toledo (43); Albacete (42); Bilbao, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Logroño, Madrid, Teruel, Valladolid, Vitoria and Zaragoza (41), and Badajoz, Burgos, Palencia, Pamplona, ​​Seville and Zamora (40).

Forty of Spain’s 50 provinces have at least a yellow alert for hot weather, 29 for temperatures between 37C and 43C.

In places such as Álava, Burgos, Córdoba, Cuenca, Granada, Guipúzcoa, Jaén, Madrid and Vizcaya the mercury could hit 44C. 

Only A Coruña, Alicante, the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, ​​Castellón, Girona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Pontevedra, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Tarragona, as well as the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, will escape the sweltering heat.

Winds and extreme heat are also driving fires that have devastated 15,000 hectares of trees in neighbouring Portugal over the past few days.

The biggest blazes are in the southern Odemira region, where more than 1,500 people have been evacuated with the fires reaching the Algarve, a hugely popular tourist destination.

But firefighters tackling the wildfires said they were bringing them under control Wednesday, with a fall in temperatures and greater humidity at the coast helping stem the spread as hot air moves east.

Experts say the recurring heatwaves, which have been getting longer and more intense, are a consequence of climate change.

The Iberian Peninsula is bearing the brunt of climate change in Europe, with droughts and wildfires becoming more and more common.

Spanish firefighters were using up to a dozen water bombers to slow the spread of the flames around Valencia de Alcantara in Extremadura close to the border with Portugal.

“We evacuated our clients to a hotel in Alcantara,” said Joaquín Dieguez, the owner of a holiday cottage. “But we are really worried because we have an enormous forest here with century-old oak trees. It’s awful,” he added.

First estimations suggest that 350 hectares of trees have gone up in smoke. The blaze comes after 573 hectares were destroyed in wildfires in Portbou in Catalonia in the northeast, with 450 acres of trees lost by another fire near Bonares in Andalusia in the south.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

WEATHER

Northern Spain braces for abnormally high spring tides

Spain’s northern regions, particularly Galicia and the Basque Country, are due to experience some of the highest spring tides in the past 19 years, causing gigantic waves, flooding and possible destruction to coastal structures.

Published: 19 September 2024 09:06 CEST
Northern Spain braces for abnormally high spring tides

Despite the name, spring tides occur throughout the year when the Moon is either new or full and when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned and there is the greatest difference between high and low tide.

In Spanish they’re known as mareas vivas and occur here more frequently in September and March.

But on this occasion other factors have been added into the mix that will make these tides exceptionally high, even up to half a metre more than in previous years. And the same will happen with low tide, which will be abnormally low.

These factors include if the moon is closer than usual to the Earth or if it is above the Earth’s equator.

The climax of these conditions will be reached this Wednesday September 18th, coinciding with the full Moon, but the main impact of this won’t be felt until Thursday.

The phenomena is expected last at least until Friday and will rise the tides on practically the entire northern coast, with waves in some areas reaching a height of five metres.

The Marine and Food Research Center of the Basque Country (AZTI) has reported that this week, between this Tuesday and Friday, “exceptionally high” spring tides will be recorded in the Bay of Biscay, which will coincide, depending on the days, between 5 and 8pm.

The Basque towns of Zarautz, Pasaia and Irun have been put on yellow alert and could even experience waves close to five metres.

In Galicia, in the next couple of days, they could even experience the highest spring tides in the past 19 years.

The maximum predicted record will be reached in the Foz estuary in Galicia on Thursday September 19th around 6pm, when the high tide will reach a height of 4.6 metres.

In Ferrol and A Coruña, other strategic points on the Galician coast, it will be 4.4 metres, while in the estuaries of the Costa da Morte it will reach 4.3 metres, and in those of Vigo and Pontevedra waves will be an estimated at 4.2 metres.

Regions along the Cantabrian Sea such as Cantabria and Asturias will also be affected with bigger waves and higher tides than normal. While reports haven’t indicated predictions as high as the waves in Galicia and the Basque Country, people there still need to be on the lookout for high tides in the late afternoon and evening of Thursday.

SHOW COMMENTS