ARCHIVED - Spain swelters with over 40 degrees recorded on three consecutive days in Andalusia
Two Andalusian weather stations, one in Huelva and another in Jaén, have registered temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius on two consecutive days this week.
Images: Aemet
Summer has arrived with a bang in Spain this year, and it doesn’t just feel like it: we now have official reports to confirm it.
On Tuesday, El Granado in Huelva reached 40.4 degrees and Andújar in Jaén 40.1 degrees; and the Spanish State Weather Agency (Aemet) has reported that this is the eighth earliest year that weather stations have registered temperatures of 40 degrees or higher since records began in 1920.
Wednesday also saw thermometers reach 40.2 degrees in Andújar and 40.1 in El Granado, according to Aemet data.
And there was no let-up on Thursday with Andújar in Jaén topping the heat charts with 40.5 degrees at 16.40 in the afternoon, followed by Las Palmas with 38.9 and Córdoba at 38.8.
Friday could close with slightly lower temperatures as the highest maximum looks to be Andújar again with "only" 38.5 at 17.30 in the afternoon.
While it is normal for temperatures upwards of 40 degrees to be reached in mid or late June or early July, there have been a handful of years in which they came early.
The earliest on record was 2015, when Córdoba airport reached 41.2 degrees on 13 May, followed by 2006 (42.3 in Andújar on 17 May), 2000 (43.7 in Vejer de la Frontera on 29 May), 1970 (42 in Talavera de la Reina on 2 June), 2001 (42.1 in Xátiva on 3 June), 1987 (40 in Madrilejos on 4 June) and 2005 (41.6 in Andújar on 6 June).
On the other hand, summer temperatures have only come late on four occasions: 1948 was the latest of all, with 40 degrees first registered in Jaén on 23 August, followed by 1925 (40 in Talavera de la Reina on 8 August), 1976 (41.6 at Córdoba airport on 4 August) and 1956 (40.4 in Seville on 2 August).
This week the World Wildlife Fund published an interesting report examining how flora and fauna as well as ourselves, are being affected by the rising temperatures of the Mediterranean: Click WWF English.Climate Change effect in the Mediterranean.