'Like summer': Heat records for April already broken across Spain
Spain has had a scorcher of an April so far with heat records broken across the country, summery temperatures in the north, and the mercury up to 16C higher than normal in some parts.
We may only be midway through April but Spain has already seen summer-like temperatures in many parts of the country, with record breaking temperatures and heat well above normal values for the time of year.
So far there have been 60 temperature records in April with more than 15 days of the month still to go.
It has been such a warm spring so far that the Spanish press have dubbed it primaverano - a portmanteau of spring (primavera) and summer (verano) in Spanish.
For their part, national weather agency Aemet have described the heat in the Canaries as that of "the middle of summer".
Records for both minimum and maximum highs have been broken one after another since the beginning of the month. The record breaking temperatures have been largely in the north, in particular around the Cantabrian Sea, though temperatures have topped 30C in parts of the south.
Temperatures reached 30C at 65 weather stations run by Aemet.
Bilbao, for example, recorded a minimum temperature of 20.1C at its airport, easily beating the previous April record of 17.8C all the way back in April 1949. San Sebastián airport station also beat its previous April record by almost 3C.
Vigo and Ourense in the northwestern Galicia region and Vitoria in the Basque Country also beat heat records for April with temperatures above 30C.
The Fabra Observatory in Barcelona recorded 29.1C, smashing the previous record (recorded last year in 2023) by 1.6 degrees.
Meteorologist Alfons Puertas posted the record breaking news in a message on Twitter/X, stating: "ATTENTION! A few minutes ago #obsFabra just surpassed the maximum temperature record for April for the entire 1914-2024 series!! 29.1C (provisional) exceeds last year's record by +1.6C!"
ATENCIÓN! Hace unos minutos #obsFabra acaba de superar el récord de temperatura máxima en un mes de abril para toda la serie 1914-2024!! 29.1°C (provisional) supera en +1.6°C el record del año pasado! @eltempsTV3 @btveltemps @RACABarcelona @AEMET_Cat @ARAmeteo @tempsdemeteo pic.twitter.com/QGuGQPCrV7
— Alfons Puertas (@alfons_pc) April 14, 2024
Record temperatures were also recorded in other northern regions such as Asturias and Cantabria.
In the rest of the country, record high minimum temperatures were recorded in provincial capitals including Salamanca, Guadalajara and Teruel.
But the heatwave hasn't just been felt on the Spanish mainland. On the Canary Islands, April heat records were set in most of the islands, especially in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Tenerife and La Gomera.
The weather station at Tenerife South Airport recorded a staggering 38.3C April temperature.
Aemet posted on Twitter/X just how abnormal these April temperatures have been: "On Sunday 14th, temperatures were once again very high for the season in most of the country: between 7-15C above normal."
El domingo, día 14, las temperaturas volvieron a ser muy altas para la época en buena parte del país: registros entre 7 y 15 ºC superiores a lo normal.
Este lunes, bajan en el tercio norte de forma notable, pero repuntarán en el tercio sur. pic.twitter.com/pyjRMpFhOt
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) April 15, 2024
Aemet also states that the record maximum highs around the country have been "among the 5 percent of the warmest temperatures recorded at this time of year," adding that the abnormally warm Spring has brought summer temperatures to northern Spain.
Comments
See Also
We may only be midway through April but Spain has already seen summer-like temperatures in many parts of the country, with record breaking temperatures and heat well above normal values for the time of year.
So far there have been 60 temperature records in April with more than 15 days of the month still to go.
It has been such a warm spring so far that the Spanish press have dubbed it primaverano - a portmanteau of spring (primavera) and summer (verano) in Spanish.
For their part, national weather agency Aemet have described the heat in the Canaries as that of "the middle of summer".
Records for both minimum and maximum highs have been broken one after another since the beginning of the month. The record breaking temperatures have been largely in the north, in particular around the Cantabrian Sea, though temperatures have topped 30C in parts of the south.
Temperatures reached 30C at 65 weather stations run by Aemet.
Bilbao, for example, recorded a minimum temperature of 20.1C at its airport, easily beating the previous April record of 17.8C all the way back in April 1949. San Sebastián airport station also beat its previous April record by almost 3C.
Vigo and Ourense in the northwestern Galicia region and Vitoria in the Basque Country also beat heat records for April with temperatures above 30C.
The Fabra Observatory in Barcelona recorded 29.1C, smashing the previous record (recorded last year in 2023) by 1.6 degrees.
Meteorologist Alfons Puertas posted the record breaking news in a message on Twitter/X, stating: "ATTENTION! A few minutes ago #obsFabra just surpassed the maximum temperature record for April for the entire 1914-2024 series!! 29.1C (provisional) exceeds last year's record by +1.6C!"
ATENCIÓN! Hace unos minutos #obsFabra acaba de superar el récord de temperatura máxima en un mes de abril para toda la serie 1914-2024!! 29.1°C (provisional) supera en +1.6°C el record del año pasado! @eltempsTV3 @btveltemps @RACABarcelona @AEMET_Cat @ARAmeteo @tempsdemeteo pic.twitter.com/QGuGQPCrV7
— Alfons Puertas (@alfons_pc) April 14, 2024
Record temperatures were also recorded in other northern regions such as Asturias and Cantabria.
In the rest of the country, record high minimum temperatures were recorded in provincial capitals including Salamanca, Guadalajara and Teruel.
But the heatwave hasn't just been felt on the Spanish mainland. On the Canary Islands, April heat records were set in most of the islands, especially in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Tenerife and La Gomera.
The weather station at Tenerife South Airport recorded a staggering 38.3C April temperature.
Aemet posted on Twitter/X just how abnormal these April temperatures have been: "On Sunday 14th, temperatures were once again very high for the season in most of the country: between 7-15C above normal."
El domingo, día 14, las temperaturas volvieron a ser muy altas para la época en buena parte del país: registros entre 7 y 15 ºC superiores a lo normal.
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) April 15, 2024
Este lunes, bajan en el tercio norte de forma notable, pero repuntarán en el tercio sur. pic.twitter.com/pyjRMpFhOt
Aemet also states that the record maximum highs around the country have been "among the 5 percent of the warmest temperatures recorded at this time of year," adding that the abnormally warm Spring has brought summer temperatures to northern Spain.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.