MADRID – The fourth heatwave of this summer, which is currently treating people in Spain with exceptionally high temperatures, has not yet reached its peak. That says the Spanish meteorological service Aemet.
The worst has yet to come. For Wednesday, Aemet will issue a code red, or extreme risk warning, for the Basque Country. The thermometer could reach up to 42 degrees. Extremely high temperatures mainly apply in the northeast, the centre and the west of the country.
The already high temperatures will continue to rise in the north of the country. This is striking for this last phase of August, when the weather is traditionally milder and the days are shorter than in July.
“Temperatures will continue to rise in the Cantabrian area tomorrow due to southerly winds. The rest of the country will experience similar or slightly decreasing temperatures,” Aemet said in AEMET’s special warning message issued Tuesday.
As a result of this heatwave, temperatures of up to 42 degrees could be reached in the basin of the river Nervión, which flows into the Cantabrian Sea north of Bilbao. In the interior of the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya (Euskadi) it will be 41 degrees. The increase will be particularly noticeable in the eastern Cantabrian area, Aemet warns.
Except for the Cantabrian and southeastern coastal area, most of the country was on alert for scorching heat on Tuesday. In this regard, Aemet warns ten regions with a code orange (major risk) and four with a code yellow due to a slightly lower risk.
Temperatures above 40 degrees are expected in several regions, such as Extremadura, Madrid, Andalucia, Aragon, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia and Galicia.
When will it cool down?
The key question is when it will become less warm. Aemet indicates that a cooler Atlantic air mass will not enter the country until Thursday. This will result in a drop in temperature in the Atlantic area and the extreme north of the peninsula.
Especially drop in temperatures in the far north
Nevertheless, it will remain above 36-38 degrees in large parts of the interior on Thursday. On Friday, the temperature drop will spread to most of the northern half of the peninsula and the northern Mediterranean region, with the drop particularly noticeable in the far north.
