MADRID – The Iberian Peninsula will have to deal with an ‘extremely warm’ air mass in the coming days. Especially around the turn of the year, the temperatures are ‘spring-like’ according to the weather institute Aemet.
Furthermore, in the warmest zones on December 31 and January 1, the maximums will be above 18 degrees. That is a record temperature for these days in the past 20 years. In fact, according to meteorologists, it is very likely the warmest end of the year in the last 40 years.
Temperatures typical for April and May
Such a warm air mass – up to 10 degrees above normal for this time of year – gives daytime temperatures typical of April or May. Therefore, it will feel positively spring-like. That said Rubén del Campo, spokesman for Aemet. He emphasises “the maxima in the last week of December and January 1 have no precedent in this century.”
Heat records already registered for December
Although this warm period has not yet started, maximum temperature records for December have already been set on Tuesday. One in the port of Palma de Mallorca with 23.4 degrees. Moreover, the previous December record was 23.1 degrees. The second was in Murcia with no less than 26 degrees. This shattered the existing record of 25.8 degrees.
Aemet’s spokesman pointed out that temperatures could rise a little more on Tuesday in Murcia and Almeria. Starting tomorrow, a “gradual rise in maxima” is expected and will last until January 1. Consequently, this increase is likely to set new records in various geographic areas.
Warmest days with old & new
The hottest days, depending on the location in Spain, are the 31st and the 1st with maximum temperatures above 18 degrees, at points in the centre and south of the peninsula, along the Mediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands, and areas of the Cantabrian Sea. Only in areas where there is fog will the temperatures be a bit lower. Fog is expected in the Duero, Ebro and Tajo valleys (the latter with less incidence) leading to a colder and more humid environment there.
Hottest in Granada
According to data from Aemet, it will be 24 degrees on December 31 in Granada, followed by Murcia with 23 degrees. 22 degrees is expected in Oviedo and Pontevedra. Teruel, Sevilla, Jaén, Cuenca, Sevilla, Córdoba, Bilbao, Huelva will follow with 21 degrees and Cádiz, A Coruña, San Sebastián, Girona, Malaga and Valencia will reach 20 degrees. In the inland provinces, Avila can count on 18 degrees, Madrid on 16 and Burgos on 14 degrees.
Cause of warm air mass
Del Campo emphasises this episode of high temperatures is not the result of the intrusion of hot air of African origin, but rather the result of a tropical air mass, which is also warmer than normal during its journey over the entire Atlantic Ocean.
The meeting of the warm air mass with the high-pressure areas causes a drop of that warm air from the upper layers of the atmosphere to the lower ones. During that descent, the air is compressed and heated, which gives rise to this warm episode, the meteorologist concluded.
What are you waiting for? Within a few hours of flying, you will be in Spain and you can celebrate the turn of the year in sunny spring atmospheres!
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