Spain set to swelter this weekend, with temperatures up to 15ºC above norm

From Friday until at least Wednesday of next week, Spain can expect temperatures that are more suited to July than May. Areas of high pressure have returned to the Iberian peninsula, and, along with the clear skies and a mass of warm air from Africa, will be causing the continuation of a sharp rise in temperatures that began on Wednesday in the east of mainland Spain and today will spread across most of the country.

The highs on Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be between 5 and 10ºC above the norm in practically all of Spain

AEMET spokesperson

According to the AEMET state weather agency, Spain is currently experiencing “generalized and unusual” heat, which will be particularly noticeable in the south and west of the peninsula and in the Canary Islands, and which will be characterized by temperatures usually seen at the end of June or the beginning of July.

The worst day for the heat will be Monday, when the regions of Galicia, Asturias, Castilla y León, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Andalusia, Aragón and the Canaries will see the mercury rise to 28-30ºC, temperatures as much as 15ºC above the norm. Seville and Cordoba could see 36ºC.

“The highs on Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be between 5 and 10ºC above the norm in practically all of Spain,” explains an AEMET spokesperson. “This anomaly will rise to 10 to 15ºC in the south, west and in the Canaries.”

This episode is likely to continue until Wednesday, when “it is likely that the arrival of warm air ceases, to be replaced by cooler air from the Atlantic, prompting temperatures to fall, in particular in the west of the peninsula,” explains AEMET in a press release.

The 10 highest temperatures seen on Thursday in Spain were all above 30ºC, and were registered in Málaga, Almería, Murcia and Valencia. Málaga topped the list with 32.2ºC, followed by Almería with 31.5ºC and 31.4ºC in Murcia.

English version by Simon Hunter.