article_detail
Date Published: 28/09/2021
ARCHIVED - Autumn and winter rain in Spain due to be less frequent but heavier
While rainfall in Spain is expected to decrease in the coming months, climate change will ensure that the downpours are more torrential than usual
With climate change a global concern that has rarely been far from the headlines in recent months, the State Meteorological Agency in Spain (Aemet) has begun making predictions about what might be in store for us this autumn. With the onset of the fall season, which begun on Wednesday September 22, it looks likely that this country can expect fewer rainy days over the coming months, but when it does rain, it will pour.
The upcoming ‘rainy season’ will produce torrential downpours in the eastern part of the Peninsula which will last for a more prolonged period of time, according to Aemet, while southern areas can expect long episodes of more drought-inducing weather.
As a whole, autumn has begun with drier and warmer spells than usual, which can only be good news for the tourism industry in Spain, with the experts predicting that the balmy weather will continue at least until the end of November.
Using information gathered on weather fronts between 1981 and 2010, Aemet believes that on mainland Spain and in the Balearic Islands, the quarterly average temperature for the remainder of the year will be at least 0.6 degrees warmer than normal, although in many communities this will be even higher.
However, given the adverse weather phenomena presented during the summer, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, has echoed concerns that flood management plans throughout Spain need to be updated given the expectation that any rain on the horizon is likely to be extremely heavy.
The summer months were overall normal in terms of temperature, with an average of 22.1 degrees and a deviation of 0.3ºC that was not particularly significant. It was the seventh consecutive summer with a temperature above the average.
Throughout the summer period, a total of five heatwaves were registered in Spain: three in the Canary Islands, who haven’t experienced such temperatures since 2015, along with two on the mainland and one in the Balearics.
As for rainfall, the summer of 2021 has only reached an average humidity but registered rainfall of 75.7 mm, that’s 2% higher than the average for the 1981-2010 reference period. It was the fourth rainiest summer of the 21st century, although it was particularly dry in north-eastern areas.
Image: Archive
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268