Spain sees hottest May in 50 years

Not since 1964 have Spaniards seen a hotter month of May than they did this year.

The record temperature for that month, 51 years ago, only exceeded this year’s average 18.6ºC by one-tenth of a degree, according to figures released by eltiempo.es.

When it came to the absolute maximum temperature, Valencia broke the record, seeing a 5.8ºC increase

Besides being a warmer-than-usual month, rainfall was notable by its absence in most parts of the country.

All weather observatories across Spain reported higher than average temperatures compared to May 2014, and no provincial capital saw thermometers dipping below 0ºC last month.

More temperature records were also broken, with Badajoz seeing the biggest change in monthly average: the previous high of 21.1ºC, from 2011, was exceeded by 1ºC in May of this year.

When it came to the absolute maximum temperature, Valencia broke the record, seeing a 5.8ºC increase on its previous high of 36.2ºC in 2010. Ávila and Murcia also recorded temperatures 2.4ºC and 3.5ºC higher than in 2006, when maximums reached 30.6ºC and 39.9ºC, respectively, that year.

As for the average maximum temperature, the biggest variations occurred in Girona (26.7ºC), Granada (30.7ºC) and Jaén (29.1ºC), all 1.3ºC  higher than the previous records from 2011, 2014 and 2012, respectively.