Heatwave in Spain to bring tropical weather with temperatures as high as 45C from June 23
MADRID – British holidaymakers heading for Spain may have trouble sleeping as tropical heat is expected to hit the Iberian Peninsula from next weekend, forecasters said.
Spaniards traditionally light bonfires or set off fireworks on the evening of 23 June to celebrate the festival of Saint John or the summer solstice, but from Friday, temperatures could rise as high as 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), forecasters said.
Rubén del Campo, spokesman for Spain’s state forecasters Aemet, said unstable weather caused by low pressure over the Atlantic would dominate this week but this would change from Thursday onwards when an “anticyclone” (an area of high atmospheric pressure) arrives in Spain.
“There will be a significant warm weather episode which will last all through the weekend and into the start of next week,” Mr Del Campo told i.
“This could be the first heatwave of the summer. It depends on how high the temperatures are and how long they last.”
He said that in large parts of Spain, temperatures could reach 35C (95F) but in the Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys near Seville in southern Spain, the temperature could rise as high as 40C (104 F).
“We could even see the first 45C of the year,” Mr Del Campo added.
Holidaymakers may have to put on the air conditioning at night because evenings will feel tropical with the minimum temperatures expected to be about 20C (68F), forecasters said.
Martin Barreiro, weather forecaster with RTVE, Spain’s state broadcaster, warned people to take care when temperatures hit 40C.
“From Wednesday onwards, temperatures will rise. Summer will arrive with extreme heat. The weekend will be above 40C. Take care,” he tweeted.
By mid-May Spain had seen 28 per cent less rainfall than expected, according to government figures. It has been the hottest Spring since records began in 1961, with experts attributing the arid conditions to climate change.
Spain continues to struggle with a long drought that has damaged crops and forced authorities to bring in water restrictions in some areas like Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona. Experts have warned that the weather has raised the risk of forest fires, which forced tourist areas in some parts of Spain to be evacuated last year.
Ferran Dalmau, CEO of forest fire consultancy Medi XXI GSA which developed a system to prevent wildfires, advises firefighters across Spain. “This year we could see a historic number of forest fires,” he said.
Last year, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land in Spain, according to the European Commission’s European Forest Fire Information System.
In its long-term forecast, Aemet forecasted that when the British summer holidays start in July and August, Spain should be in for more traditional hot weather with isolated showers.
Temperatures were expected to be between 0.5-1 C (17.4-33.8 F) above the average summer temperatures of 22 C (72 F) between June and August.
However, there may be heavy showers and storms at times throughout July, August and September, said Juan Jesús González Alemán, an Aemet forecaster. He said these rainfalls or storms will be due to troughs of high and low air pressure.
