Spain on yellow alert as record-breaking May weather continues
Parts of Spain have been experiencing a hottest May since records began, as a mass of hot, dry air blows in from Africa, bringing with it dusty skies and temperatures of more than 40 C 106 F Spain s state meteorological agency, Aemet, has warned of a weekend heatwave of extraordinary intensity with temperatures between 10 C and 15 C above the seasonal average and more akin to high summer than mid-May.
The early hours of 21 May have been extraordinarily hot for the time of year across a good part of the centre and south of the peninsula, Aemet said on Saturday. In many places, the temperature did not fall below 25 C, something practically unheard of in May. On Friday, the mercury at Seville Airport reached 41 C, while another Andaluc city, Ja n, logged its first May temperature of more than 40 C as the thermometers registered an unprecedented 40.3 C almost 2 C above the previous record.
On Friday, the city of Segovia, north-west of Madrid, experienced its first tropical May night as temperatures remained above 20 C.
Temperatures in some parts of Andaluca are expected to reach a maximum of 40 C on Saturday afternoon, with highs of 36 C expected in Madrid and 38 C in the north-eastern city of Zaragoza expected to reach a maximum of 40 C.
While there is no meteorological risk for the population, some activities could be hazardous, which is why Spain is on yellow alert.
The Spanish government has activated its national plan for excess temperatures and is advising people to keep hydrated and wear light clothing. It also recommends keeping a close eye on children, pregnant women, and older and chronically ill people.
The temperatures in the north-eastern Ebro valley could reach an unheard-of 39 C on Sunday, while the heat is expected to peak across most of the country on Saturday.
Spain recorded its highest ever temperature last August, when the Andaluc town of Montoro reached 47.4 C.
A recent study conducted by Aemet found that the arrival of 30 C temperatures across Spain and the Balearic islands had come an average of 20 to 40 days earlier in the past 71 years.
The summer is eating up the spring, according to Rub n del Campo, an Aemet spokesman, told El Pa s on Friday.
He said that the rise in temperatures was a direct and palpable consequence of climate change in Spain and that it fits perfectly with a situation where you have a warmer planet. It got more extreme. France has been experiencing above-normal temperatures for more than a month. The state forecaster, M t o France, said such episodes of extreme heat were likely to become longer and more severe, start earlier and recur more frequently as global heating advances. It said that there was no indication this year that the unusually hot spring was the beginning of a record-breaking hot summer.
The UK Met Office said earlier this week that the chances of a record-breaking recent heatwave that has pushed temperatures in parts of India and Pakistan to 51 C had been made more than 100 times more likely because of the climate crisis.