An unprecedented spring heat wave hits Spain: what caused it and how long will it last

Madrid: Early heat waveand the second in less than a month, hits Spain with Temperatures above 40°C In several regions of the country, a meteorological phenomenon is transmitted to France, and it is expected that It ends on Sunday.

The country will record temperatures these days between 7 and 12 degrees Celsius above the usual values These dates in most of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). Nine out of the country’s seventeen regions are on alert orange, the second highest level possible.

Temperatures can reach 42°C in Badajoz, in the southwest, 40°C in Seville (Andalusia, to the south) and 39°C in Madrid, very unusual levels in spring.

“This is a very unusual situation. We insist: These temperatures are not normal for (…) mid-JuneAemet spokesperson, Ruben del Campo, said.

The proliferation of heat waves, especially in Europe, is a consequence of Global WarmingAccording to scientists, whose greenhouse gas emissions increase the strength, duration and frequency of these phenomena.

“Climate change is an absolute reality, and in Andalusia we live it very harshly,” said Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno. Emmett said the heat wave will continue to hit Spain until – at least – Saturday.

Extreme heat, a product of a The warm air mass coming from North Africa, scrolls to France. France’s weather agency, Météo-France, is forecasting temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the southwest between Thursday and Saturday, although the entire country will see higher-than-normal temperatures.

Spain actually suffered a heat wave in May, the month that turned out to be the warmest May so far this century.

There will be a slight decrease on Thursday in the daytime thermometers in the south and in the Mediterranean region of Spain, while in the Bay of Biscay they will rise significantly. During the day, Badajoz will stay around 35 degrees; Seville at 39 degrees and in Cordoba at 41 degrees while in the north in Pamplona, ​​Logroño and Bilbao it will exceed 38 degrees and Zaragoza up to 40 degrees. Fog will follow, and evolution clouds will lead to scattered storms.

The heat is expected to intensify on Friday, del Campo said, and there will be slight rises in thermometers which, in addition to the high temperatures of previous days in almost the entire region, will be between 5 and 10 degrees above normal. The temperature may reach or exceed 40 degrees in Bilbao and Ciudad Real and may reach 43 degrees in Cordoba, Girona, Granada, Huesca, Jaén, Lleida, Madrid, Murcia, Pamplona, ​​Toledo or Zaragoza.

Looking at Saturday, the most likely prediction predicts that the Atlantic’s DANA, which pumps warm air from North Africa, could get close enough to Spain to cause a “significant drop” in temperatures. The western half, although the speaker does not rule out that this decline is limited to the western third only.

In any case, del Campo sees it as “highly likely” that the sweltering heat will continue in the eastern half of the peninsula and in the Balearic Islands, where maximum temperatures could drop below 35 degrees on Saturday.

Between Sunday and Monday there will be a general drop in temperatures in most of Spain Although the atmosphere will still be very warm, with maximum temperatures over 35 degrees in the Ebro, in the Mediterranean regions and in the Balearic Islands.

In this way, Del Campo confirms that the heat wave in Spain may end on Sunday. For their part, the Canary Islands and the Principality of Asturias are the only independent communities left out of this loop.

The spokesman explained that if the heat wave ends Sunday, it will last seven or eight days, which is equivalent to the oldest in Spain for the month of June, although its intensity has not yet been determined. So far, one in June 2019 has been the second most intense attack due to records all summer and likely to surpass the 2022 record.

Agence France-Presse agencies and the Department of Political Affairs