Spain braces for summer as temperatures begin to soar
Six provinces on orange alert and 18 more on yellow; mercury expected to hit up to 41ºC
A warm air mass settled over the Iberian peninsula on Saturday, bringing unusually hot weather for this time of the year. The Spanish weather agency, AEMET, said that temperatures will continue to rise on Monday, with much of inland Spain registering 35ºC and above.
Six provinces – Córdoba, Jaén, Seville, Toledo, Badajoz and Cáceres – are on orange alert (signifying “important risk”) for temperatures expected to top out at 41ºC.
A further 18 provinces are on yellow alert, the lowest end of the warning scale, and meaning “risk”: Granada, Huelva, Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Ávila, Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid, Zamora, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona and Madrid.
However, weather officials note that even though the high temperatures are expected to last most of this week, it will not be long enough to constitute an official heat wave. Last year, the first heat wave began in mid-July.
@metro_madrid Let's talk about air conditioning...on Line 10 THERE IS NONE!#weareroastinglikechickens@MetroSufferers"
“Air conditioning” has already become a trending topic on Twitter, with some users complaining about the lack thereof in some schoolrooms and subway lines.
The mercury will continue to rise on Tuesday and Wednesday in the northeast, and slowly drop in parts of the southwest. Wednesday will be the hottest day in northern and central Spain, with thermometers hovering around 30-35ºC.
English version by Susana Urra.
