Lorraine Williamson
AEMET says summer 2026 broke the previous record set only last year, while exceptionally dry conditions made it the country’s third-driest summer since the official series began.
Spain’s hottest summer since at least 1869
The average temperature across mainland Spain between June and August was 24.5°C, some 2.4°C above the 1991–2020 average. That made summer 2026 the hottest since AEMET’s official records began in 1961, beating the previous record set in 2025 by 0.3°C.
AEMET climatologists have also reconstructed Spain’s temperature record back to 1869. Although uncertainty increases further back in time, the agency says the evidence shows there has been no hotter Spanish summer in at least 157 years.
The ten hottest summers in AEMET’s official series have all occurred during the 21st century.
61 days under heatwave conditions
It was not only the intensity of the heat that made 2026 exceptional. Its persistence was particularly striking.
Spain recorded 61 days under heatwave conditions during 2026, more than in any previous year. That compares with 41 days in 2022 and 36 in 2025.
The first heatwave across the Peninsula and Balearic Islands ran from 20 to 27 June and affected as many as 42 provinces.
A second lasted 23 days, from 2 to 24 July, followed just four days later by another prolonged episode lasting 24 days, from 28 July until 20 August. The Canary Islands experienced a separate five-day heatwave at the beginning of August.
The heat did not stop when the meteorological summer ended. Another five-day heatwave was recorded between 2 and 7 September.
Summer effectively lasted four months
AEMET says 2026’s summer conditions stretched well beyond June, July and August. An unusually hot spell between 19 May and 3 June brought average temperatures around 5°C above normal, with conditions more typical of July. High temperatures then persisted into September.
The result was effectively four months of summer conditions, beginning during the second half of May and continuing through the first half of September.
The highest temperature recorded at one of AEMET’s principal stations was 44.2°C in Murcia on 23 July. Granada Airport and Alcantarilla Air Base both reached 43.9°C during August, while Valencia Airport recorded 43.7°C.
One of Spain’s driest summers
The summer was also exceptionally dry. Mainland Spain received an average of just 39.6mm of rain, equivalent to 56% of the normal amount. Only the summers of 1994 and 2016 were drier since the official precipitation series began in 1961. July was the driest July on record, while June was the third driest. August was wetter overall because of several episodes of heavy thunderstorms.
Conditions varied considerably across the country. Much of mainland Spain was dry or very dry, although isolated intense storms meant parts of Andalucía were classified as wet or very wet.
Heat continues as autumn arrives
There is little sign of autumn in the temperatures this Tuesday. AEMET expects predominantly stable and sunny weather across much of Spain on 22 September, with unusually high temperatures in several regions. Temperatures above 35°C are possible in south-western Spain, south-western Galicia and the Canary Islands.
The astronomical autumn begins on Wednesday, but temperatures this week are expected to remain substantially above the seasonal norm in many areas.
Summer isn´t over: Spain heads back up above 35C
A warmer-than-normal autumn likely
AEMET’s seasonal outlook suggests the unusual warmth may continue. There is a 60–70% probability that meteorological autumn – September, October and November – will be warmer than normal throughout Spain, compared with just a 10% probability of colder-than-normal conditions.
Looking slightly further ahead, AEMET puts the probability of the October-to-December period being warmer than normal at around 70% across most of Spain.
Rainfall is less certain. Parts of northern, central and western mainland Spain could experience a wetter-than-normal October-to-December period, with the probability particularly high in the north-west.
After a summer that broke temperature records and effectively stretched across four months, Spain may therefore have to wait a little longer for consistently autumnal conditions.