MADRID – The third heatwave of the Spanish summer is approaching. And because it’s August, it’s also going to be the heaviest. Extremely high temperatures will be the result of a warm air current from North Africa that will move all over Spain.
This was confirmed by the Spanish meteorological institute Aemet on Friday. The passage of the storm ‘Patricia’ through Spain has hardly provided a moment of relief. Difficult days lie ahead. Patricia is a thing of the past and so is the ‘cooling’ that has recently been felt almost everywhere in Spain. There is no question of a gradual temperature change, so the country is preparing for another heatwave this summer. Moreover, according to meteorologists, this could be the heaviest.
⚠️Aviso especial por #OlaDeCalor
🔴Desde el lunes 7 hasta, probablemente, el viernes 7.
🔴 Afectará a la mayor parte de la Península.
🔴 Se superarán los 40 ºC en zonas del norte y los 42 a 44 ºC en el centro y mitad sur. Noches muy cálidas.
Infórmate en https://t.co/ljJpl4SrlI pic.twitter.com/PoQuhFWQ5Y— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) August 4, 2023
A high-pressure area creates a stable atmosphere in which there are hardly any clouds and the sun shines strongly. As a result, the Earth’s surface is heating up “intensively”. That heat is then transferred back to the air. In addition, due to atmospheric stability, heat is retained in the lower layers of the atmosphere, which can cause temperatures to rise even more.
Saturday morning still felt cool for the time of year. Minimum temperatures were even below 10ºC in cities such as Burgos, León and mountain areas, where the mercury dropped to 5-7ºC in the early morning. However, during the day they began to rise considerably.
Maximum temperatures will temporarily drop in the north, but rise in the rest of the country. Night-time temperatures will rise everywhere from Saturday to Sunday. In the Cantabrian area and other cities in the northern third, such as Vitoria or Pamplona, it will remain below 24ºC during the day on Sunday. But in the centre and south of the country, the mercury will rise above 35ºC on Saturday and Sunday. With 40 to 42ºC. Furthermore, it gets warmest in the interior of Andalucia and Extremadura in the river valleys of the Guadalquivir and Guadiana.
Monday and Tuesday
The week starts on Monday with temperatures above 40°C expected in the south of the country. In the valleys of the Guadiana and Guadalquivir, they could exceed 42°C locally. The thermometers will rise further on Tuesday, especially in the north. This can be felt especially on Wednesday in the east of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
“Very Hot Days”
“These will be very, very hot days with daytime temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees above normal in most of the country. Only along the Mediterranean coast will temperatures be more normal,” said Aemet spokesperson Ruben del Campo.
Sweltering hot nights
He explains that in some parts of the southern part temperatures of 42 or 44°C could be reached or even exceeded and that nights and early mornings are tropical (above 20°C) to sweltering hot (above 25°C). night) in parts of the Mediterranean and inner cities, especially in the centre and south. However, the heatwave is expected to subside from Thursday.
Canary Islands
In the Canary Islands, strong winds will blow from the north, especially in higher areas. The north of the larger islands will also have to deal with clouds. From Tuesday, the trade winds will become stronger and temperatures will also start to rise there. Del Campo does not rule out that the intense heat “will also play the main role” on the islands in the second half of the week. Thermometers will indicate values above 34 to 36°C .
Andalucia
In Andalucia, Aemet warns with code yellow for heat with temperatures around 40ºC in the provinces of Córdoba, Jaén, Huelva, Seville and Cádiz. Cádiz will keep code yellow on Sunday, but the other mentioned provinces will move to code orange. A strong easterly wind will then blow along the coast of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Region of Valencia up to 47ºC
However, it will be different in the Valencia region, for which Aemet predicts temperatures above 45º with maxima of 47ºC. There may be a shower on Monday morning as a short relief, but after that, it will remain warm until at least Thursday. Furthermore, Thursday will be the worst day of the heatwave, with maximum temperatures rising exponentially. In the interior of the southern half of the province of Alicante, these will exceed 40 degrees, with an outlier of the expected 47 degrees in Xátiva, compared to the 42 to 43 degrees that will occur at peak times in Requena and Alcoy. On the Valencian coast, all maximum temperatures will again exceed 30 degrees and even approach 35 and 36 degrees.
