Spain set for 'scorching' summer, forecasters say
2022 was the hottest Spanish summer since records began and meteorologists are forecasting that Spain will experience another 'scorching' summer in 2023 too.
Spanish meteorologists are already predicting that Spain will experience a 'scorching' summer in 2023, on the back of the hottest since records began last year.
According to quarterly forecasts from experts at El Tiempo, May, June and July will bring temperatures well above normal for the Spanish summer. Specifically, it will be much warmer than normal throughout inland Spain, and warmer than normal across the rest of the country except in the Canary Islands where temperatures are likely to only be slightly above average.
Mar Gómez, head of meteorology at El Tiempo, explained that "in all likelihood, the summer will be scorching. There is a lot of time left but our calculations tell us, with a very high probability, of more than 70-80 percent, that thermal anomalies will occur, that is, temperatures above normal in almost all of Spain, especially in Andalusia, Extremadura, the two Castillas, Madrid, Aragon, La Rioja, Navarra and parts of the Basque Country and Catalonia."
"In my experience, such a high probability indicates that this forecast will be fulfilled," she added.
Already in 2023, Spain has experienced some abnormally high temperatures since the beginning of spring. The country is also suffering one of the largest droughts since 1970, and there are parts of Spain where it has not rained for over 100 days since the start of the year.
In terms of rain forecasts for the summer, May, June and July are predicted to have rainfall slightly below normal levels in inland Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Madrid, Extremadura, much of Castilla La Mancha and Andalusia.
Without much rain forecast for spring either, the season it generally tends to rains in Spain, the prospect of wildfires in the summer seems very likely. In some parts of Spain, the fire season has started early this year.
READ ALSO: Ten towns evacuated as Spain's wildfire season starts early
Record setting
The summer of 2022 was the warmest ever recorded in Spain since records began in 1961. Temperatures were 2.2C above average, 0.4C more than what until then had been the warmest summer ever, in 2003.
July 2022 was particularly hot, when average temperatures across Spain were 2.7C above average, with a national average temperature of 26.6C - the warmest month since records began.
Spain experienced several heatwaves throughout summer 2022, include one in early June, something rare, and the sweltering July, when temperatures hit 46C in southern Spain. The WHO says the heatwaves killed almost 2000 people in Spain and Portugal.
READ ALSO: '2.7C above normal': Spain registers hottest month on record
The trend only seems to be going in one direction, too. Gómez added that "summers are getting longer and longer... [and] are now five weeks longer than they were in the 1980s, increasing at a rate of nine days per decade."
The lengthening of the season affects temperatures on either side of the summer, meaning not only that Spain's sweltering summers are breaking records with rising temperatures but they now last for longer too.
Summer 2023, experts say, looks set to be another scorcher.
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Spanish meteorologists are already predicting that Spain will experience a 'scorching' summer in 2023, on the back of the hottest since records began last year.
According to quarterly forecasts from experts at El Tiempo, May, June and July will bring temperatures well above normal for the Spanish summer. Specifically, it will be much warmer than normal throughout inland Spain, and warmer than normal across the rest of the country except in the Canary Islands where temperatures are likely to only be slightly above average.
Mar Gómez, head of meteorology at El Tiempo, explained that "in all likelihood, the summer will be scorching. There is a lot of time left but our calculations tell us, with a very high probability, of more than 70-80 percent, that thermal anomalies will occur, that is, temperatures above normal in almost all of Spain, especially in Andalusia, Extremadura, the two Castillas, Madrid, Aragon, La Rioja, Navarra and parts of the Basque Country and Catalonia."
"In my experience, such a high probability indicates that this forecast will be fulfilled," she added.
Already in 2023, Spain has experienced some abnormally high temperatures since the beginning of spring. The country is also suffering one of the largest droughts since 1970, and there are parts of Spain where it has not rained for over 100 days since the start of the year.
In terms of rain forecasts for the summer, May, June and July are predicted to have rainfall slightly below normal levels in inland Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Madrid, Extremadura, much of Castilla La Mancha and Andalusia.
Without much rain forecast for spring either, the season it generally tends to rains in Spain, the prospect of wildfires in the summer seems very likely. In some parts of Spain, the fire season has started early this year.
READ ALSO: Ten towns evacuated as Spain's wildfire season starts early
Record setting
The summer of 2022 was the warmest ever recorded in Spain since records began in 1961. Temperatures were 2.2C above average, 0.4C more than what until then had been the warmest summer ever, in 2003.
July 2022 was particularly hot, when average temperatures across Spain were 2.7C above average, with a national average temperature of 26.6C - the warmest month since records began.
Spain experienced several heatwaves throughout summer 2022, include one in early June, something rare, and the sweltering July, when temperatures hit 46C in southern Spain. The WHO says the heatwaves killed almost 2000 people in Spain and Portugal.
READ ALSO: '2.7C above normal': Spain registers hottest month on record
The trend only seems to be going in one direction, too. Gómez added that "summers are getting longer and longer... [and] are now five weeks longer than they were in the 1980s, increasing at a rate of nine days per decade."
The lengthening of the season affects temperatures on either side of the summer, meaning not only that Spain's sweltering summers are breaking records with rising temperatures but they now last for longer too.
Summer 2023, experts say, looks set to be another scorcher.
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