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WEATHER

Spain swelters in abnormal January heat

Spain is grappling with unusually warm temperatures for a winter month as a mass of hot air pushed the mercury to just shy of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in some regions.

Published: 26 January 2024 09:18 CET
Spain swelters in abnormal January heat
Spain also recorded unusually high temperatures in December, with the mercury peaking at 29.9C in Málaga, a national record for the month. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

Temperatures reached or exceeded 20C at nearly 400 meteorological stations — almost half the country’s total –, the spokesman for national weather agency Aemet Rubén del Campo wrote on X, formerly Twitter, calling the figures an “anomaly”.

The mercury rose to 29.5C in the eastern region of Valencia, 28.5C in Murcia in the southeast and 27.8C near Málaga in the south — temperatures usually seen in June not January.

Overnight temperatures have also been warmer than normal.

The mercury did not drop below 10C overnight Wednesday in the small ski resort of Puerto de Navacerrada near Madrid, which is 1,900 metres (6,200 feet) above sea level and is normally covered in snow at this time of year.

The winter heat, which has also affected southeast France, was caused by the presence of a powerful anticyclone above the Mediterranean, said David Corell, a researcher at the University of Valencia.

“There are no studies yet that have evaluated the long-term trend of this type of event but it is clear that we are experiencing this type of abnormal situation more and more frequently,” he told AFPTV.

Spain also recorded unusually high temperatures in December, with the mercury peaking at 29.9C in Málaga, a national record for the month.

The heat comes amid a prolonged drought affecting much of the country, especially the northeast region of Catalonia and the southwest region of Andalusia.

In Catalan capital of Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city, water reservoir levels fell in mid-January to around 17 percent of their capacity.

If they fall below 16 percent of their capacity — which could be imminent — the region will declare a state of emergency.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned that heatwaves will become more frequent and more intense.

READ ALSO: How the heat in Spain is changing tourists’ habits

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WEATHER

Will this summer in Spain be as hot as the previous two?

2023 was the world’s hottest summer on record, with many countries including Spain experiencing scorching temperatures. What are meteorologists forecasting for summer 2024?

Published: 16 May 2024 11:05 CEST
Updated: 18 May 2024 07:44 CEST
Will this summer in Spain be as hot as the previous two?

2023 was in fact the second-hottest summer Spain had ever experienced – the hottest being just one year earlier in 2022.

During that year, 11,300 people died in Spain alone due to the abnormally high temperatures, marine life perished in the warming seas and even train tracks warped and became deformed.

All eyes are looking toward this summer to see what will happen and if it will be as roasting as the previous two. 

READ ALSO:

According to the climate service Copernicus-EU, above-normal temperatures are predicted across southern Europe this summer.

And in Spain, there is a 50-70 percent chance that this summer will be one of the hottest 20 percent on record, and it will properly begin in June.

According to Spain’s State Meteorological Agency AEMET, we have already seen an abnormal rise this May.

Its quarterly prediction, which will take us up to the end of July (typically the hottest part of the summer here in Spain), states that it will almost certainly be warmer than usual on the Mediterranean side of the country, as well as the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Copernicus agrees with these predictions and has indicated that it’s very likely to be hotter than normal in certain areas of the country. It particularly singled out the Valencia region, Murcia (except the south), northern Almería and Granada, Ibiza and Formentera and the western Canary Islands.

It’s getting more and more difficult to know exactly what ‘above normal’ temperatures are, considering what Spain has experienced the last few years, but the reference period that many experts are basing their predictions on is from 1991-2020.

When it comes to rainfall, Copernicus has forecast that the “most likely scenario is a summer with less rain” than usual.

AEMET agreed with the prediction, stating on its X account that “most likely rainfall will be less throughout the country than what is already normally scarce in the summer season”.

This is bad news for many parts of Spain, such as Catalonia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands, which have already been experiencing an ongoing drought over the past two years.

Luckily, spring rains have managed to fill reservoirs just enough to see us through the summer at this point, but more rain will definitely be needed come autumn.

READ ALSO: Will drought restrictions affect summer holidays in Spain?

While scientists agree the sizzling temperatures experienced over the past few summers are down to climate change, last year in 2023, the cyclical phenomenon known as El Niño also had a part to play in global weather patterns.

When the seas become cooler on average and it has a cooling effect on the planet, this is partly down to the effect of La Niña.

This year is supposed to be dominated by La Niña and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US, La Niña has a 49 percent chance of developing between June and August and a 69 percent chance between July and September.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that this summer will be cooler than last year.

As of May 16th 2024, we’re undergoing a neutral period known as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Despite the global cooling effect of La Niña in 2022, it was still the planet’s sixth hottest year and the hottest in Spain ever recorded.

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